FigDraftJoin betaAnswer-first guides
Short answers for people preparing a product idea before CAD.
These pages explain what a useful early product brief contains when a rough sketch, generated image, or notebook page is not enough for the next step.
How should I prepare a product sketch before CAD?
Before CAD, make the idea easier to understand rather than more polished. Bring a readable sketch or photo, simple part names, notes about how the product should behave, the key views needed to explain it, and the questions you have not answered yet. This gives a CAD designer or product-development partner a clearer starting point and reduces guesswork in the first conversation.
AI and Product BriefsCan AI turn a rough sketch into a product brief?
AI can help summarize notes or produce a concept image, but a useful product brief must retain what is known, what is assumed, and what remains open. A polished image alone can hide missing dimensions, unclear movement, or invented details. FigDraft is being developed to help structure those early inputs for review, not to declare a rough concept ready for engineering.
Product Handoff ChecklistWhat belongs in a product handoff before prototyping?
A useful pre-prototype handoff packages the source sketch or notes, the views needed to explain the idea, a plain-language part list, intended behavior, known constraints, and explicit open questions. The goal is not to finish the design yourself. It is to help the next person see the same product idea you are trying to describe.
Why Pretty Images Are Not EnoughWhy is a polished AI image not enough for product development?
A polished concept image can communicate a direction, but it is not a reliable product input by itself. It may invent features, obscure connections, or make an unresolved choice look final. Product development needs traceable intent: what the parts are, what they should do, what matters most, and what still needs to be decided. FigDraft is being developed around that reviewable structure.