The essence of the Core Model design process is that you focus primarily on the top tasks of your customers. You make sure they can solve their problem, complete their task. You design inside-out, from the task outwards.
Traditionally, most web design focused strongly on the homepage. However, the importance of the homepage has long been in decline. With search and linking, every page is potentially a homepage. So, the Core Model is about figuring out what people most want to do and then ensuring they can do it quickly and easily.
