Happiness is something we strive for for many ages now. America’s founding fathers declared the inalienable right to pursue happiness. Yet are Americans, or citizens of other countries, happy? If they are not, what if anything can be done about it? Research offers evidence that the systematic measurement and analysis of happiness can teach us a lot about ways to improve the world’s well-being and sustainable development. Can happiness be architected, designed? - this is a presentation I did on architecting happiness at Design By Fire.

1. Architecting Happiness
Xander Roozen / @shuggie / Informaat
Are you happy now?
13 juli 2015

2. #happiness
2

3. 3
#Happiness in the air
~ vlucht FR1951 Ryanair

4. ~ Warenhuis Action
4

5. 5
“#Happiness as the ultimate purpose
of human existence.”
~ Aristotle

6. 6
“ (…) with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
#Happiness.”
~ United States Declaration of
Independence, 1776

7. 7
“ The discovery of a new dish
does more for the #happiness of
the human race than the
discovery of a star.”
~ Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

8. 8
“#Happiness is a warm gun”
~ John Lennon, White Album,
1968

9. 9

10. 10
“ The word #happiness is not used lightly.
Happiness is an aspiration of every human
being, and can also be a measure of social
progress. ”
~ World Happiness Report, United Nations,
2013

11. 50%
10%
40%
11
What determines happiness?
~ Sonja Lyubomirsky, The how
of happiness, 2008
Intentional activity
Genetic set point
Circumstances

12. 12
~ Dr. Jennifer Melfi
in The Sopranos

13. 13
“I think with technology,
entertainment and design, we can
actually increase (…) human
#happiness on the planet. (…)
And if design can increase (…)
#flow and meaning, what we're all
doing together will become good
enough.”
~ Martin Seligman, TED, 2008

14. 14
“While traditional HCI was very problem-oriented, UX is a
positive approach to HCI, looking for rich experiences rather
than solely focussing on usability problems.”
~ Anna Pohlmeyer (2012)

15. 15

16. Transition from interactive
products to dynamic
ecosystems
16

17. 17
“The web we were used to is gone”
~ Alberta Soranzo, EuroIA 2014

18. 18
From top-down hierarchy to organic
network
~ Andrew Hinton, IA Summit, 2009

19. 19
An ecosystem of individual,
yet connected components

20. 20
Trojan Coffee Pot,
University of Cambridge,
early 90’s

21. 21
“Yes, I'd like to order 4,000 lattes to go,
please”
~ Steve Jobs, San Francisco, 2007

22. 22
Pre digital
Finite touch points
Digital age +2.0
Multiple, connected touch points
Post digital age +2.0
Infinite touch points
Touch
points
~ David
Armano,
2007

23. Design examples
23

24. 24
“The man on the tape
wasn’t specific”
~ Frank Costanza, Seinfeld

25. 25
“Advertising is based on one
thing: happiness.”
~ Don Draper, Mad Men

26. 26
“We turned the hate you
found into something
happy.” #makeithappy
~ Coca Cola, 2015

27. 27
3 universal pillars of happiness:
• Autonomy - feeling in control of one’s surroundings
• Competence - learning & growing skills
• Relatedness - interacting & connecting with other people
~ Sonja Lyubomirsky, 2008

28. 28
Serial podcast, 2014

29. 29
Autonomy
• Tools to customize your own
listening experience - time-
shifting, different platforms
• Transparency - sponsorship

30. 30
Competence
• Flow - simple entry point to
complex information
• Learning about other people’s
thoughts and emotions

31. 31
Relatedness
• The ability to follow others and
form groups around gathering
knowledge
• Multiple ways to interact

32. 32
Cool Blue, (web)shop

33. 33
Autonomy
• Transparent
Competence
• Simplicity of asking
questions and getting
instant answers

34. 34
Relatedness
• Give thanks
Competence
• Lots of Easter eggs

35. 35
Autonomy
• Transparency - behind the scenes

36. 36
Relatedness
• Social object

37. 37
Autonomy
• Creating a tool for
self-expression
Relatedness
• Social object

38. 38
Is (architecting for) happiness just a
fleeting fashion? An idea suited to
2015 and maybe a year or two
beyond but destined to fade as soon
as the next fresh idea hits the
market?

39. Creatief Systematisch Duurzaam
info@informaat.nl
+31 35 543 1222
Jacob van Lenneplaan 57 3743 AP Baarn
39

40. About (most of) the images and references (1/3) 40
3. http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/aristotle/
http://www.mattbacon.net/archives/207
4. quote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_Liberty_and_the_pursuit_of_Happiness
image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence
5. https://twitter.com/Shuggie/status/561091222438436865
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness_Is_a_Warm_Gun
8. http://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/290-happy-maps-radio-in-a-bucket-and-more-1.3119062/mapping-happiness-one-smell-at-a-time-1.3119109
7. http://unsdsn.org/resources/publications/world-happiness-report-2013/
8. Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. New York: Penguin Press.
The Science of Happiness" Sonja Lyubomirsky - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_URP3-V1sY4
10. Martin Seligman - http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_seligman_on_the_state_of_psychology/transcript?language=nl#t-4109
11. Anna Pohlmeyer - http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/interfaces92.pdf

41. About (most of) the images and references (2/3) 41
12. image - http://thenounproject.com/mailchimp/collection/the-happiness-collection/
Redefining Value, to Business and to Society by Nathan Shedroff - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pfqZWMpJJY
14. http://www.euroia.org/speaker/alberta-soranzo/
Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modem
15. http://www.designative.info/2009/06/03/listen-to-andrew-hintons-you-are-mostly-here-digital-space-and-the-context-problem-talk-at-ia-summit-
2009/
18. http://www.fastcompany.com/3006147/most-innovative-companies-2013/because-steve-jobss-first-public-iphone-call-starbucks-still-
?partner=newsletter
+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0vTQm8Lkoo
19. http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2008/01/infinite-touch.html
21. Serenity Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auNAvO4NQnY + https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Serenity_Now
22. http://gawker.com/make-hitler-happy-the-beginning-of-mein-kampf-as-told-1683573587

42. About (most of) the images and references (3/3) 42
23. image: http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/49268237.jpg
Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. New York: Penguin Press.
+
http://www.slideshare.net/missrogue/happiness-as-your-business-model-414463
24. http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/viral/serial-highly-addictive-spinoff-podcast-american-life-n235751 + http://www.nrcq.nl/2015/06/09/wat-
luister-jij-op-weg-naar-je-werk
28. image: http://www.finallymedia.nl/blog/pakketje-van-coolblue-met-echt-naar-karton-smakende-pakketbodem