What would happen if the British Government valued citizen life satisfaction as much as economic figures: how might wellbeing be 'managed'?

The products created within this scenario are fictional, and as such, have fictional users. However, they're utility is in allowing us to engage in debate on both the role of government in influencing citizen happiness and the ethics of the designer when facilitating such government policies.

The products themselves might seem comical, if not silly, but they attempt to satire contemporary society, serving to present or highlight potential extremes of an ongoing trend of government encroachment into the life of the individual.

Concept Explanation from Robert Allen on Vimeo.

On his first official state visit Prime Minster David Cameron met King Wangchuck, ruler of the remote Himalayan state of Bhutan. Impressed at Bhutan's notion of Gross National Happiness, Cameron takes the radical step of establishing the Department for Wellbeing and Happiness.

Headed by the newly appointed Secretary of State for Wellbeing, Ken Clarke MP, the department encourages citizens to undertake activities designed to help monitor and maintain their life satisfaction and general level of happiness.

The Department of Wellbeing and Happiness has been tasked with responding to one of the greatest problems facing British people - decreasing life satisfaction. The department plays a vital role in making a difference to millions of people everyday, helping them to lead happier and more satisfied lives.

By equipping citizens with the instruments and services necessary to monitor all aspects of their lives, the Department for Wellbeing & Happiness offers citizens the opportunity to take control over life's uncertainties. It also allows the Government to assist citizens mental development, increasing happiness, improving productivity and thus the economy and society as a whole.

The Department created several polices which they have outlined as;

- promotion of satisfying sex as healthy and positive for wellbeing

- promoting charity and face to face giving

- assisting those in life situations considered damaging to life satisfaction, such as the unemployed.

Back2Work from Robert Allen on Vimeo.

Employment Simulation tool. How can the British Government better help those impacted by unemployment?


The Back2Work kit is a Government response to a problem concerning the life dissatisfaction of the unemployed. The 'Business Bib' is a tool for employment simulation - the suit being interpreted as a social signifier of legitimate, admirable employment. This kit seeks to address issues about the impact of the recession on wellbeing and of unemployment as an endemic problem in any economic downturn.

Its role is to manipulate the user to believe that they are actively engaged in employment, this being one route to maintaining positive wellbeing. The user achieves this by emulating the work environment and practicing works skills within a domestic setting, whilst the accompanying DVD illustrates the Government's desired 'good for business' interaction between parent and child.

Practising skills for employment through domestic 'altered' tasks could also be seen as distraction therapy, lacking in any real motivational value, only seeming to intrude into the lives and relationship of parent and child.

Love Trainer from Robert Allen on Vimeo.

A device that allows users to monitor and improve their sexual activity. Could state surveillance and self-monitoring pervade as far as the bedroom?


Sexual health shouldn't just be about disease avoidance – satisfying sex is good for wellbeing. The Love Trainer is a device that allows users to monitor and improve their sexual activity with the end result of improving their wellbeing. The release of the hormone oxytocin during orgasm correlates to a happy and fulfilling relationship.

The device derives its data from sensors that acquire data relating to vibration and volume. It analyses this information, basing it on the type of sex selected and age, alongside other biometric information relating to the users gender, weight and overall health.

The accompanying Love Life website allows users of the Love Trainer to share their data within an online community.

swipeAid from Robert Allen on Vimeo.

System for facilitating efficient face-to-face, charitable donation. Is face-to-face giving better for us?


SwipeAid is both a system for facilitating efficient charitable donation and a satire of life in a cashless society. In this fiction, the Vagrancy Act of 1824 has been repealed, rejecting begging as unlawful, and instead actively utilised as a tool to increase national wellbeing.

The homeless person logs on to the machine and can then receive a maximum of 30 credit donations per day at each collection point. The credits can only be used within appropriate means such as drug treatment, food and housing. The points are switched off at certain times such as during the night to help motivate migration to safe housing.

Donatees can either use their Oyster or other payment systems such as Paywave.

The device questions the predominance for charity through indirect means, such as through direct debit. Facilitating charity face-to-face maximises the wellbeing improvements created during the process of meeting and helping a person in front of you.