In the first phase, it's necessary to determine exactly what needs to be created, and why. Why does this product need to exist? Who are you creating this for? What business problems will this solve?

Conduct research to gain a deep understanding of their users and their needs. This research helps them create empathy for their users and understand what they need from the product or service.

Take all of the information gathered in the research stage and start to plan out how to meet user needs. Develop user personas, user stories, wireframes, and other high-level plans during this phase.

Once there is a good understanding of the plan to move forward, it's time to start sketching out some ideas for how users will interact with the interface. This is where it’s the phase to think about the overall layout, navigation, and specific elements on each page.

Prototyping allows the ability to present a more realistic experience for your usability testing, which can then deliver more accurate feedback and insight into "what's working" and "what's not working". Prototypes can be low-fi or hi-fi.

Before launch, it's important to test the interface with real users (if able). Usability testing helps identify any areas that need improvement before the final product goes live, and delivers this feedback from the user's point of view.

Once the testing is complete and all of the necessary changes have been made to a high fidelity user interface, the product is ready to be handed over to the development team for implementation.

After launch, the product—whether that's a website, app, or other digital product—it’s not done. The design process is an ongoing cycle that’s meant to be repeated as users interact with and provide feedback on the product.