Design Thinking is a human-centered, iterative problem-solving methodology that originated at Stanford d.school and IDEO, now applied across industries from product design to healthcare to business innovation. It transforms complex challenges into user-focused solutions through five core stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Unlike traditional linear processes, Design Thinking embraces non-linearity and iteration — teams cycle back through stages as insights emerge, assumptions are challenged, and solutions evolve. The approach prioritizes divergent thinking (generating many possibilities) followed by convergent thinking (narrowing to the best solution), ensuring both creativity and focus. One critical insight: Design Thinking succeeds or fails in the empathy stage — solutions built without genuine user understanding rarely address real needs, no matter how innovative they appear.