Once the brief has been defined and agreed upon, a designer starts to search for relevant information that can be fed into the design process at the ideate stage. Which process are we referring to?

The design thinking process finds a solution or creates a product based on briefs or requirements of a client, for example, and has seven basic stages: Define, Research, Ideate, Prototype, Select, Implement and Learn.

First, the client's requirements are presented with a goal to achieve. Then it is studied until finding all its variations and interpretations. Once the proposition is determined, the product can start to be articulated with its values to the audience.

The "research" stage begins after the brief has been defined and agreed, when a designer starts to search for information that can be fed into the creative process at the ideate stage.