Fully designing something before its implementation can easily go hideously astray. I might even go as far as saying that it often does. Done right, however, we're willing to bet it's quite valuable.
It's all about the total effort expense of a project. As MenTaLguY pointed out, in terms of expense, code > mockups > words. Spending some well placed effort on the latter two, however, will enable the code to come more easily, with fewer rewrites, more bang for your buck.
Massive specifications, intricate UML diagrams, and all the other paraphernalia of the 'well planned' software project take way too much effort, and have little value. Rather, simply figuring out how things will work, is good. It allows you to consider the consistancy, unity, and usability of the design in a critical light, picking out flaws and issues before they reach code.
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