What is the focus of the Define stage in Design Thinking?

The focus of the Define stage in Design Thinking is to articulate user needs and problems clearly. This stage builds on insights gathered during the Empathize phase, where understanding the users' experiences, motivations, and challenges is obtained. By stating user needs and problems, the team can concentrate on specific issues that need to be addressed, leading to a well-defined problem statement that serves as a foundation for ideation.

This clear articulation allows designers and stakeholders to align on what matters most to the users and guides the direction of the subsequent stages in the design process. In essence, the Define stage ensures that the work being done is centered around actual user needs, which greatly enhances the relevance and effectiveness of the solutions developed later.

In contrast, researching user demographics is typically part of the Empathize phase, while creating prototypes and evaluating solutions are found in the later stages of the Design Thinking process, specifically during the Prototype and Test phases, respectively.