[kamocat]

I've been using Inventor so far. It has a lot of nice features, but I've really gotten tired of the workflow, and I'd like to try a CAD program that uses a workflow I like. However, I don't know what CAD program uses this, and I'd like your suggestions.

Currently, in drawing a mechanism, I have to start by making the parts, and then assembling them into the mechanism. This is great if I know what parts I'm using, and just need to figure out what I can make with them. But this usually isn't the situation I'm in.

Usually I know what I want to make, but need to figure out what the parts will be. I want to start by drawing the size constraints, and making an approximation of what it will end up like. Then I want to take that and break it up into the different parts, so that this initial solid becomes an assembly. Thus each part is already assembled into the final product, and I simply have to add detail to each part (and possibly break them up further into more parts).

This workflow may seem strange to you. I've never actually seen anyone CAD like this. I like this workflow because it is how I develop software. It allows me to make big changes in the early stages of the design without worrying about the minutia, and my low-detail placeholders BECOME the final parts.

So, what CAD software can I use to work like this?