Due to the fact that I've been working on a huge redesign project, one common theme in my design habits over the past few months has been wireframes. I've really grown to love wireframing as a tool for design. I used to think of them as just one small piece of the puzzle when designing, but the more and more I use them, the more I realize how invaluable a tool my wireframes actually are. They allow me to solve problems in the design process before I even touch photoshop. I've always begun my design process with sketching, but my approach has completely changed. Instead of one or two sketches to represent my entire layout, I've taken to "microsketching" where I dissect one bit of the page and explore all of the different possibilities for that piece through sketches. This way, I know that I'm really thinking about each part of the page instead of just slapping something on there without a second thought. I think taking time to consider every single mark on the page is something that really separates a good designer from a great one, and I've really strived to do this in my designs as of late. The first step to doing this is a lot of sketches.