The “Double Diamond” process rarely works well in real projects. Here’s how the design work actually gets done in small and large organizations, and where design has most leverage.

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2023/08/improving-double-diamond-design-process/

“The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.”

— Albert Einstein & Leopold Infeld

https://www.infoq.com/articles/problem-reframing-method/

• Avoid building wrong solutions or products by directly jumping into solution thinking and not empathizing with the problem
• Finding a better problem that fits the customer’s needs better opens up a space for more innovative and sustainable solutions
• Looking at a problem from different angles helps to build more innovative and sustainable solutions or products
• Try different reframing practices and methods, such as examining bright spots or looking in the mirror; there is not a one-size-fits-all approach

https://blog.logrocket.com/ux-design/double-diamond-design-process/

In other words:

User wants to do X.
User doesn't know how to do X, but thinks they can fumble their way to a solution if they can just manage to do Y.
User doesn't know how to do Y either.
User asks for help with Y.
Others try to help user with Y, but are confused because Y seems like a strange problem to want to solve.
After much interaction and wasted time, it finally becomes clear that the user really wants help with X, and that Y was a dead end.