For me on a double, the big ring is for cruising and light hills. I feel no compunction about cross chaining it up to 2nd gear (or down to 5th on a 6 gear cluster while in the little) when in the big ring. When I hit a hill (or am going slow enough), I'll put it in the little ring, go through all but the last gear, then upshift to the big one again once I get underway on the other side.

It's not like a car, and doesn't have to be all that linear - remember, the chainrings are the main changes - the freewheel/cassette is for tailoring it exactly.

In fact, on one of my bikes, I can't remember the last time I used anything BUT the big ring...but that one is a 48X38X26 triple. with 175mm cranks...and I'm a masher.