One of the key itches this article scratches is the issue of the hamburger menu that just appears in a design mock because it's how things are done nowadays. It's almost insulting to deal with people who care so little about the "bottom line business metrics" you mention that they throw things in there, like the hamburger, without justification in context.

It's not even a question of business metrics at that level. It's simply a question of thinking about how you want people to interact with your website, and a lot of designers (using the term as generically as possible--anybody who is planning a site, be they a graphic designer or developer) don't even get that far.