> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://doc.getrationale.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Turn your PRD into a screen-by-screen design brief

> Paste your spec and Rationale generates a screen-by-screen design brief with components, states, interactions, and edge cases for your designer.

The **Brief your designer instantly.** workflow takes a product spec and turns it into a structured, screen-by-screen design brief. Instead of handing a designer a wall of prose, you get a brief that lists the exact components, states, interactions, and edge cases for every screen — derived directly from your requirements.

## When to use this workflow

Use this workflow when:

* You have a finished or draft PRD and need to brief a designer on what to build.
* You want to surface missing states and edge cases before design work starts.
* Your team wants a single artifact that translates product intent into actionable design instructions.

If you have designs but no PRD yet, use [Generate a PRD from your Figma designs](/workflows/design-to-prd) to go in the opposite direction.

## How to generate a design brief

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a new project">
    Open Rationale and click **New project**. On the gateway picker, select **Brief your designer instantly.**
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name your project">
    Enter a name that identifies the feature or surface, for example "Notifications redesign".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Import your PRD">
    Choose how to bring in your spec:

    * **Notion** — pick a page directly from your connected Notion workspace
    * **Upload** — drag in a `.pdf`, `.doc`, `.docx`, `.md`, or `.txt` file
    * **Paste a link** — paste a Google Doc, Confluence URL, or any other document link
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Generate design brief">
    Click **Generate design brief**. Rationale reads the spec and begins building the brief immediately.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Watch the generation steps">
    Rationale works through three steps:

    1. **Reading your PRD** — parses the requirements and product intent from your spec
    2. **Structuring your design brief** — maps requirements to screens, then populates components, states, interactions, and edge cases for each
    3. **Saving your design brief** — persists the result to your project

    Once complete, Rationale takes you to the project.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review the design brief">
    Your project opens on the **Design Brief** tab. The brief is structured as a document with an overview, global cross-screen requirements, and a dedicated section for every screen.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Result tabs for prd-to-design projects

Projects created with this workflow show a different tab set from Match projects:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Design Brief" icon="pen-line">
    The primary output. A screen-by-screen document with: overview, global requirements, and per-screen sections covering purpose, components, states, interactions, and edge cases.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Gaps & Edge Cases" icon="triangle-exclamation">
    Requirements or scenarios from the PRD that couldn't be mapped to a specific screen. Review these before handing the brief to a designer.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Decisions & Notes" icon="message-square">
    A log for design decisions and notes attached to this project version.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Dev Handoff" icon="rocket">
    Export the brief in Markdown, JSON, or as a pre-wired AI prompt for Cursor, Claude, or similar coding agents.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Exporting the brief for engineering

The **Dev Handoff** tab lets you export the design brief in three formats:

* **Markdown** — suitable for dropping into Linear, Notion, or a pull request description
* **JSON** — structured data for automated pipelines or integrations
* **AI prompt** — a ready-to-paste prompt pre-wired for AI coding agents; paste it into Cursor, Claude, or Lovable to start building immediately

Use the **Copy** or **Download** button to export in your chosen format.

<Note>
  Unlike the Match gateway, the Dev Handoff tab for prd-to-design projects is available immediately — no approval step is required. The brief is the artifact, not an audit result.
</Note>

<Tip>
  After your designer has worked from the brief, connect the resulting Figma file to a Match project to automatically audit the designs against the same PRD. This closes the loop between brief and delivery.
</Tip>