The starting point for design is simple a heuristic thinking technique that applies universally! To explain it best I made the web page interactive click on the buttons in sequence each step will be explained! In this sequence I concentrate on showing use of WH5 technique. It means derive a question for each topic by asking what, where, when, why, how?One goes into greater and greater detail with each step. In other words one knows more about the topic and issues one does not know about! By presenting it in a circular fashion with the various topics evolving in greater and greater detail, it provides a track record of ones thought process and overview of the process so it is easy to check if one missed something or is being duplicated. The technique is called Design spiral!
The example is designing a table!