If you're talking about people who already know atleast one of digital design or firmware design (writing bare metal drivers etc) then your advice makes sense.

If you're talking about people who already know atleast one of digital design or firmware design (writing bare metal drivers etc) then your advice makes sense. But if I were a beginner trying to understand how digital logic design works, the whole Processor + Programmable logic and the complex interfaces between them can overwhelm me and take me away from exploring the base digital logic that is implemented. It will be a much more enjoyable experience to create something in the programmable fabric first and then think about how you can interface it with normal software.