In the early stages of the new products process, there is a lot of uncertainty, and these stages are often referred to as "the fuzzy front end". This term describes the initial phase of the product development process where ideas are generated, explored, and refined before formal development begins. It is characterized by ambiguity and unstructured activities, such as brainstorming, concept development, and preliminary market research. The goal is to clarify and solidify product ideas to transition them into more structured development phases.