step 2:

ask yourself, what do you want in plan view, cut view and 3d? And what do you need to schedule?

Brain first!

This is a general rule that I use in everyday Revit use. One of the first questions I push my users to ask before starting anything. . ."What am I using this for?, Is it just for now, or is this for 6 months from now?", "Do I need this in 10 minutes, or next week?".

A good family creator will multiply this idea 10 full and then add in "Who is using this family?".

Forward thinking is so important with this program.

One basic workflow to keep in mind when creating families is this:

1. Think of the object before you add any geometry, and try to build it first with reference planes.

2. Add dimensions to your reference planes. Lock the dimensions that don't need to change. Leave unlocked the ones that will change.

3. Turn your unlocked dimensions into parameters.

4. Test your parameters by changing their values, and watch if the reference planes move along.

5. Add the geometry, aligning and locking the sketch lines to the reference planes.

6. Do steps 1 to 5 for both the plan view (X and Y) , and elevation views (Z), without duplicating constrains.

7. Load, test, debug, and iterate the process.

Notice that the geometry is added at the end, after the parameters are driving the geometry. If the parameters are working, adding the geometry is the easy part. One very common mistake is to jump to do the geometry at the beginning. As in many other things, first work on the structure, then add the content.

Alfredo, I never thought to do it this way- it's very good advice. Family creation is one of the few things in Revit that I still really struggle with, and this advice in this thread is probably the most helpful general advice for families that I have come across. Thanks! To all of you!

I don't remember where I heard this illustration, but it helps me to think about the proper order in developing a family:

Reference planes and lines are the "skeleton" of the family.
Dimensions, parameters, and constraints are "muscle".
Solid geometry is the "skin".

I kind of use the same workflow as Alfredo. But somewhat different on some points:

1. Go into the Family Types and add Geometry Parameters on all things that you want flexing. I find this to be helpful in the "think upfront" approach. It forces me to think about what I want with this family and how I want to be able to use it.
1a. Create Object Styles as needed for the coming geometry. This too is done upfront to force myself to think about the family.
2. Exit the Family Types and start creating the family using refplanes. Add the parameters created before and try to do this in small but meaningful steps. Test after every step. For example: if I want to create a complex window, I don't go around cramming all refplanes in but I first create the outside perimeter, go to step 3 and 4, and back to this step for the next part of the family.
3. Add Geometry to the recently parametrised refplanes and test again.
4. Load into project and test here also.
5. Add an object style to the geometry
6. Go back to step two and start with the next part.
7. As a final step, add all parameters not concerning the geometry like visibility, family type, material, etc.

The reason I use more in-between steps is that I create a lot of families that are not my usual cup of tee. I've had some frustrating situations where I did an entire family and it broke down when loading into a project. Try to find the problem then.

exactly what i do, the "modelling" is the very last component, and will only be done once i have all reference planes working as intended.