Lean Research training has become necessary in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation development as more and more developers have realized the need to stop viewing research subjects as sources of data rather than true collaborators.

Lean Research is an approach and an initiative to improve the practice of data collection involving people and communities in development and humanitarian contexts. It is an ethical approach to rigorous, relevant, respectful, and right-sized research: a process of user-centricity that enables entrepreneurs to ensure their business meets community and customer needs.

It draws on participatory research, human-centred design and lean production, which have operated in relative isolation, and brings them together into a simple and coherent framework that provides practical guidance on how to improve field research.

It was developed by a team of researchers and faculty at MIT D-Lab and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Hence, Lean Research emerges from the work of scholars, researchers, practitioners, donors, and students who have witnessed development and humanitarian research that falls short of being rigorous, relevant, respectful or right-sized.

Workshop outcomes

–  Introduce the participants to the Lean Research approach, in order for them to identify the core components of Lean Research and identify how it has been applied to other research projects.

–  Provide them with the opportunity to apply some of the concepts to specific exercises, for them to feel comfortable applying the approach to their projects.

–  Discuss additional training that might be relevant and how the Lean Research   concepts could be applied to their work