Every project needs a kickoff so we can understand the scope and business goals of the project.
Design is communication and every idea needs to be communicated clearly. The kickoff is generally the designer asking a ton of questions about what the project is and throwing rough ideas at the group. Ideas are cheap; designers want to shake it around a little and see how it holds up, if users will find value in it, zoom out a level and see how it will interact with the rest of the website/application and explore if there more intuitive ways of reaching the same goals.
A new marketing page project can start off with a quick conversation and a rough outline of what content should be on the page. The overarching goal of the page should be clear and all the content should be aimed at hitting that goal. See Process: Website Landing Page for more information.
A new product or feature should start with a quick meeting with the Product Manager and the developer(s) on the project. Because systems are complex, especially ones that already exist, design will need to understand how the system works to make sure the interface accurately communicates appropriately. Ideally, we can help adapt the system to what a user would be expecting.