I think the principal emphasis should be on analysis and specification. Design can't be done properly without it. If you don't have proven, well-documented requirements, you can't design a solution, since the problem isn't well-defined.

It's a documentation issue. The device requirements should be thoroughly studied before its specification is written. That then becomes the document to which a solution is devised, and the design is accomplished by specifying solutions to all the requirements.

Each capacitor, resistor, diode, etc, and each line of code, should be traceable back to the requirements. No line of code that doesn't provide essential functionality should be included, just as no physical component should be included if it is not traceable to some firm requirement.

RE