Starting a site’s design before the content for that site is fully developed can be a costly mistake. It often leads to designs that are sub par or that don’t fit with the final content. Knowing that is only half of the battle. The other battle is helping clients understand that, which is where this post comes into play.

I often refer to my approach to design as "Content Driven Design". Would have said, “form follows function”. No matter how you express it, using language in the beginning that defines the design as dependent upon the function/content of the site helps establish a precedence. But, simply saying you subscribe to the ‘content driven design’ school of thought isn’t enough to prevent a client from saying, “Can’t we just make a design and then put the copy and pictures in when it’s done?”
The logical approach

Your first line of defense should be one of reasoning because it demonstrates that your respect your client’s intelligence. For some clients, a simple statement is enough to convince them. The statement I use is, “My job as a web designer is to arrange content on a page so that it is both functional and compelling. I can’t make good decisions about either unless I know what I’m supposed to arrange.”

Read More: http://www.netxpertsolutions.com/web-design-managing-a-client’s-expectations-59.htm
Enjoy.