Which phase in D4D is primarily focused on exploring customer challenges?

The phase in Design for Delight (D4D) that is primarily focused on exploring customer challenges is the Empathy phase. This stage emphasizes understanding the needs, motivations, and pain points of customers. By engaging deeply with customers through interviews, observations, and other research methods, teams can uncover the real issues that users face.

Gathering insights during the Empathy phase allows designers to frame the problems accurately and develop solutions that truly address customer needs. This foundational understanding is crucial before moving onto later stages like ideation or prototyping, as it ensures that the solutions developed are relevant and valuable to the end-users. The focus here is on listening and learning from customers, which sets the groundwork for the subsequent phases in the D4D process.