Design Thinking

In the Design Thinking Process, the first and most critical stage is the Empathy stage. It involves observing, engaging with, and understanding the users to gain deep insight into their needs, behaviors, and motivations.
This stage helps designers:

Put themselves in the user’s shoes
Uncover pain points and real-world problems
Build solutions that are truly user-centric

Explanation of Other Options:

(A) Test: Stage where solutions are tested for effectiveness.
(B) Prototype: Developing models of possible solutions.
(C) Define: Analyzing findings to define the core problem.
Thus, Empathy is the correct stage for understanding user needs and objectives.