Whenever I start a new project, the first question which I ask is 'What would Steve do?'. This question (or philosophy) has played a profound role in all the product and UX decisions I've made.
The best way to start off a new project is to look at it from Steve's perspective. He was after simple, functional and intuitive user interfaces which don't suck.
All the solutions I've developed with this philosophy provided huge benefits both to my customers and business. Development became easy - as you 'get rid of the crappy stuff', focussed and less maintenance/support well into the future. And customers would love the simplicity with which they can get their job done.