The document outlines the H(app)athon Project, which aims to build technology to improve well-being over 15 months. It will involve surveys, events, and hackathons to develop a mobile app. The project is led by a committee of experts and will run in 3 cycles: to raise awareness, engage communities, and build the app. It will launch an initial survey in December 2012 and mobile app in March 2014. The goal is to utilize crowdsourced data to measure well-being beyond GDP and provide resources to optimize life.

2. The Project
Introduction Page 3
Mission Statement Page 6
Who’s Behind this and Why? Page 7
Why Will People Participate? Page 14
What are We Building? Page 18
The Work
Definitions/Direction Page 22
The Timeline Page 26
Join Us.
Get H(app)y Page 29
H(app)thon Project Vision 2

3. What’s the H(app)athon Project?
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4. The H(app)athon Project is a fifteen month initiative comprised of
surveys, awareness-building events and hackathons with a goal of building
technology that can improve people’s well-being and the way the world
measures value.
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5. Mission Statement
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6. To utilize emerging technology to improve
human well-being and drive positive social change.
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7. Who’s Behind This and Why?
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8. WHO. Our Committee is made up of Experts focused on well-being, Big
Data, Quantified Self, Internet of Things, Emerging Media and policy creation. We
work at a lot of different organizations but are aligned on one purpose: to guide the
open-source creation of an ethically based mobile tool that teaches people how to
optimize their lives and help others.
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9. The Committee
Full Committee listing at
happathon.com
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10. WHY. We’re doing this Project
because we believe, as RFK
pointed out over 40 years
ago, that GDP is not a sufficient
measure of holistic value of well-
being for individuals, countries or
the world.
H(app)thon Project Vision 10

11. GDP Counts GDP Doesn’t Count
• Air pollution • The health of our children
• Cigarette advertising • Quality of their education
• Locks for our doors • Joy of their play
• Jails for people who break them • Beauty of our poetry
• Destruction of the redwoods • Integrity of our public officials
• Napalm • Our wit
• Nuclear warheads • Our courage
• Armored police cars to fight riots • Our compassion
WHY. These are the factors that GDP does and doesn’t measure, according
to RFK from his speech delivered to the University of Kansas, 3/18/1968.
H(app)thon Project Vision 11

12. WHY.
CrowdSource Global Well-Being Indicator Address Ethics
Our Project also utilizes the wisdom of the crowd to define a global well-being Indicator
guided by Participant’s feedback. Along the way, we’ll address/inform Participants around
the issues of ethics concerning data collection in the digital arena.
H(app)thon Project Vision 12

13. WHY.
We love data. Mike Tully created a progressive series of graphs for his work
called Visualizing the World’s Well-Being. Like Mike, we believe that once you
shape and analyze data you have the opportunity to mine informed insights.
We’re creating an app that will feature this kind of visual data for users.
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14. Why Will People Participate?
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15. People Want to Live an Examined Life.
Our lives and actions are being tracked by technology. We want to give individuals
the tools to make the best use of their data to improve their overall well-being.
H(app)thon Project Vision 15

16. People Want Big Data to Have Direction.
People are worried about their identity being absorbed by modern technology.
We’re providing an ethically directed, holistic sense of value as a framework for Big
Data that guides people to improve their well-being and the world at large.
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17. 1) Live an Examined Life.
We’re creating three unique Mobile
Happiness Indicator Surveys (mHIS)
over the course of the Project: 2) Learn How to Improve/Optimize.
• Designed by multiple well-being Survey participants (project
(happiness) experts community members) improve their
well-being (happiness) via:
• Crowdsources a well-being
Index (think Gross National • H(app)athons – Multiple
Happiness)
awareness building events
• Advanced mobile/sensor tech
(third survey) gauges action as • Project website/blog – Expert
well as words for robust and contributions on well-being, Big
unique study measurement Data, mobile technology
• Participants improve their well- • Project wiki – community speaks
being by comparing their data for itself
with others and via resources
recommended by Committee • Hackathons – caffeine and tech
and other participants builds, x3
• Conference – March, 2014 in NYC
3) Help Others.
reveals our findings and our
Spread the love. Save the world. technology
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18. What are We Building?
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19. Our Product is our Process. We want to help people see how their well-
being is measured by data and provide them with resources to help them
optimize their lives. In this way, our “product” is the process that includes
their voices and victories as part of our Vision.
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20. Our Product is also Tangible.
We’re building technology (probably an App) to release on
3.20.2014 with an open API for developers/anyone to use.
What It Will Do:
• Personal decisions and policy creation can be guide by
crowdsourced, open data
• Provide data (opt-in) that can form a picture of global, holistic, well-
being that acts as “mood ring for the planet”
• Provide an individual with resources
(links, content, videos, community) to help optimize areas they wish to
address
• Help an individual see how their well-being compares to others (in
their social graph/other countries around the world)
• Help an individual understand the areas of their life where they lack
well-being (in 10-12 areas we identify that correspond with a global
Happiness Indicator framework)
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21. The Work
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22. The Committee. About thirty experts guiding the Project.
Mobile Happiness Indicator Survey (mHIS). Where we crowdsource/discover h(app)iness.
The H(app)athons. Awareness building events, playful in nature (“Toolkits” let people do their own).
The Hackathons. Events where we build our Technology Platform.
The Tech. App we release on 3.20.2014.
The Conference. Where we share our progress/technology on 3.20.2014.
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23. A New Kind of Survey.
The Mobile Happiness Indicator Survey (mHIS).
2-week’s worth of questions and insights delivered on your
phone. Compare your answers with global peers, optimize –
then amplify your positive change to the world.
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24. Gather. Mince. Repeat.
1) Gather. 2) Mince.
We ask questions via our Mobile Results of our survey are
Happiness Indicator Survey (mHIS) to posted publicly and used as
create a crowdsourced well-being the basis to build technology
Indicator/feedback loop. at our hackathons.
3) Repeat
We’re running this cycle three times over the course of the Project to
be as inclusive/conclusive as possible.
H(app)thon Project Vision 24

25. The Three Cycles.
1) Get Aware.
Happathons and Hackathons in Cycle One are focused
on education and awareness around the issues of well-
being and emerging technology.
2) Get Civic.
Next we invite communities and policy makers to come
and play by helping us refine our crowdsourced well-
being Indicators.
3) Get it Together.
The Committee guided by community builds the App
and plans the Conference.
H(app)thon Project Vision 25

26. The Timeline.
12.28.2012 3.20.2013
Fall, 2013
Public Launch First Cycle Launch
-Press Release -Happathons in
Third Cycle
London, NYC Launch
-Newsletter CTA
-Mashable Article -”Toolkit” Events -Details TBD
-Hackathons
Summer, 2013 3.20.2014
2.11.2013
Second Cycle Launch Public Launch
mHIS Launch
-Details TBD
-First Survey released -Details TBD
-Data for Hackathons
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27. Thank You.
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28. Help us Hack H(app)iness.
Take the survey. Run your own H(app)athon. Sponsor a hackathon
or our conference. Come to an event or write on our wiki.
And be h(app)y.
More info and newsletter/survey sign-up at happathon.com
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