I use a database diagram before I do anything in a new project all the time myself. It's a good way to start thinking about any data-heavy project. Inevitably t

I use a database diagram before I do anything in a new project all the time myself. It's a good way to start thinking about any data-heavy project. Inevitably there will be things I didn't consider and have to add while implementing but it's still a great first step. I'll even draw them on paper sometimes (it's just squares with types and column names inside and arrows pointing to keys on other tables, mostly).