Methodology

The Humanitarian Innovation Guide builds on empirical research on the HIF innovation portfolio carried out in partnership with ALNAP (Obrecht and Warner, 2016), as well as our work on the Principles of Innovation Management (HIF, 2016). The research methodology for the development of the Guide comprised four core areas of activity:

• A literature review which analysed 57 prioritised documents, identified through preliminary screening of abstracts, summaries and other features from over 200 toolkits and reports from the humanitarian sector and the wider world of innovation
• Key informant interviews and focus group discussions which together captured the views of over 40 innovation experts from across the sector, including humanitarian practitioners who have led innovation projects
• An online survey of over 200 potential users of the Guide which was used to gauge priorities, stages and key challenges, and to ensure that the Guide is user-centred
• Two interactive workshops in Lebanon and Nepal which were designed to capture user feedback on some of the key frameworks and activities covered in the initial stages of the Guide

The Humanitarian Innovation Guide is an evolving online resource. We will be continuing our research into the actions that underpin successful innovation processes and releasing new stages and modules in 2018/2019. As a live resource, we will also continue to review and update existing content according to new research that is published and feedback from existing users.