Good strategy when designing applications?

[ShadeSlayer]

I've always made a layout of every page I've planned and what's on the page.

 

eg.

   1. Manage Categories
         1. Add Category
               1. Category Name
               2. Category Link
                     1. ModRewrite Link 
         2. Edit Category
               1. Category Name
               2. Category Link
                     1. ModRewrite Link 
         3. Remove Category 

 

That's basically my only planning strategy for applications.

 

What do you guys do when undergoing a large project? Some insight would be cool.

[xtopolis]

You could model it in a program such as Visio using UML.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Modeling_Language

 

However, are you talking about layout, implementation, or both?  It depends.

[ShadeSlayer]

Everything, really.

[DarkSuperHero]

Im trying to get into the modeling out of my program in UML's Diagrams....although at the moment I am a bit ahead of myself.... I need to think of my project requirements first....then break down the requirement into its simplest functionalities, so that i may have more reusable code..... would something like this be on the right track ? guys?

[xtopolis]

I'm not exceptionally good at planning/designing, however in my Design Patterns book, it is restated several times: "design to an interface, not an implementation."

 

    * Design to an interface

    * Favor composition over inheritance

    * Identify and encapsulate system variability

 

Cited here: http://www.developer.com/design/article.php/1577941

 

Though my book was "PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice" by Matt Zandstra

 

Basically I'm agreeing with DarkSuperHero's notion to plan out functionality and requirements.