The Happy Forecast
A social happiness experiment in London
Introduction
The Happy Forecast visualises over a year of observational social wellbeing research carried out across all 119 postcodes of London.
The study observed everyday micro-interactions within public spaces; positive and negative body language, audible factors, physical acts of kindness and aggression etc.
It’s these, often subconscious actions, that cumulatively build to have a significant impact on our mood, and in the long term, our social wellbeing in a given area.
The ambition of the project is to playfully showcase and compare London’s current social wellbeing levels by area whilst encouraging us to be more mindful of our everyday social interactions with strangers as we move through the city. If we are all more aware we can work towards shifting the stigma of a grumpy city and make London even more enjoyable to be in.
How we did it
We worked in consultation with Professor Dacher Keltner of the University of California, Berkeley using a technique he developed called the ‘Jen Ratio’, which measures social well being within shared spaces.
It is calculated by the total number of positive micro-interactions over the total number of negative that strangers share during a given period of time, in a given place. Body language, verbal interaction and acts of kindness or aggression were key categories assessed during observation.
The resulting value, the Jen Ratio, is a simple but powerful way to predict whether a particular place will ultimately contribute to our happiness positively in the long term.
“In my many years of being in this game of happiness, this is some of the most innovative work I’ve ever encountered. The mixture of rigorous measurement, game like presentation, and real world relevance is fun and breathtaking”
— Prof. D. Keltner PhD of the University of California, Berkley
If you are interested in learning more about the Jen Ratio along with ways to boost your personal wellbeing, Dacher Keltner and UC Berkeley have launched an online resource, The Greater Good in Action. The site contains dozens of science-based excersises and is part of the world-renowned Greater Good Science Center.
Special thanks
During the project we’ve received advice and collaborated with some great people across the field of happiness and the digital innovation and creative sector. A big thank you goes out to Greg Findon, Prof. Dacher Keltner, Stanislav Shcherbakov, Leon Nikoosimaitak and Jack Masterson.
We’ve also used the Zoopla API to pull in average house prices by area and, Sentiment140 for the live Twitter analysis — thank you.
Get in touch
For media enquiries or further information, please contact: hello@thehappyforecast.com or ask for the Happy Forecast team at
020 7932 5580.
Press coverage
The Happy Forecast has been featured in some great publications and in an ITV news broadcast. For further reading see ITV News, The Huffington Post, Timeout, The Mirror, The Drum and Creative Bloq.
Recognition
Best Health Site at The Webby Awards, May 2016.
Site of the Day at Awwwards, 13 July 2015.
Site of the Day at CSS Awards, 15 July 2015.
Website of the Day at CSS Winner, 23 July 2015.
Site of the Day at FWA, 6 August 2015.
About Clubhouse Studios
Clubhouse Studios is an independent creative agency based in Shoreditch, London.
The studio blends creative strategy, innovation and design to deliver brands interactive solutions. Current clients include adidas StellaSport, Ben & Jerry’s, Dishoom and Unilever.
The fast-paced studio is formed of creatives, strategists, designers and technologists who collaborate to solve business problems and achieve brand ambitions with interactive products and experiences.
Clubhouse’s aim is simple — create innovative experiences that go above-and-beyond the customer, client and studio’s expectations.
The studio is also dedicated to innovation with research and development being a founding fundamental of Clubhouse. This dedication to R&D allows the team to problem-solve without constraint whilst investigating the latest emerging technologies, behaviours and insights and their uses.
The output of this process comes in many shapes and sizes from thought-pieces to prototypes. The best however, are taken further by Clubhouse and fully developed and released as studio-owned products.
This study was written for Clubhouse Studios by Will Orrock and Dan Coppock.
If you would like to find out more, or just have a chat please email will@weareclubhouse.com.
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