The Design Thinking process can be broken down into five steps of phases:

1. EMPATHISE: the first stage of the process is spent getting to know the user and understand the wants, needs and objectives. This means observing and engaging with people in order to understand them on a psychological and emotional level. During this phase, the designer seeks to set aside the assumptions and gather real insights about the user. 

2. DESIGN: This stage is dedicated to defining the problem. It is about gathering all the findings from the empathise stage and starting to make sense of them. By the end of the define phase, the designer will have a clear problem statement. The key here is to frame the problem in a user centred way. Once the designer formulates the problem into words, they can start to come up with solutions and ideas. 

3. IDEATE: The third phase in the design thinking process is where creativity happens, and it’s crucial to point out that the ideation stage is a judgement free zone. Designers will hold ideation sessions in order to come up with as many new angles and ideas as possible. Brainstorming and mind-mapping are few of the techniques used. Towards the end of the ideation phase, the designer will narrow it down to a few ideas with which to move forward. 

4. PROTOTYPE: The fourth step in the design thinking process is all about experimentation and turning ideas into tangible products. This is step is key in putting each solution to the test and highlighting any constraints and flaws. Throughout the prototype stage, the proposed solutions may be accepted, improved, redesigned or rejected depending upon how they fare in the prototype form. 

5. TEST: After prototyping comes the user testing, but it is important to know that it is rarely the end of the design thinking process. In reality, the results of the testing phase will often lead the designer back to a previous step, providing the insights you need to redefine the original problem statement or to come up with new ideas he/she hadn’t thought of before.