"How can A/IS creators incorporate well-being intotheir work?
## BackgroundWithout practical ways of incorporating well-being metrics to guide, measure, and monitor impact, A/IS will likely lack fall short of its potential to avoid harm and promote well-being. Incorporating well-being thinking into typical organizational processes of design, prototyping, marketing, etc., suggests a variety of adaptations.Organizations and A/IS creators should consider clearly defining the type of A/IS product or service that they are developing, including articulating its intended stakeholders and uses. By defining typical uses, possible uses, and finally unacceptable uses of the technology, creators will help to spell out the context of well-being. This can help to identify possible harms and risks given the different possible uses and end users, as well as intended and unintended positive consequences.Additionally, internal and external stakeholders should be extensively consulted to ensure that impacts are thoroughly considered through an iterative and learning stakeholder engagement process. After consultation, A/IS creators should select appropriate well-being indicators based on the possible scope and impact of their A/IS product or service. These well-being indicators can be drawn from mainstream sources and models and adapted as necessary. They can be used to engage in pre-assessment of the intended user population, projection of possible impacts, and post-assessment. Development of a well-being indicator measurement plan and relevant data infrastructure will support a robust integration of well-being. A/IS models can also be trained to explicitly include well-being indicators as subgoals.Data and discussions on well-being impacts can be used to suggest improvements and modifications to existing A/IS products and services throughout their lifecycle. For example, a team seeking to increase the well-being of people using wheelchairs found that when provided the opportunity to use a smart wheelchair, some users were delighted with the opportunity for more mobility, while others felt it would decrease their opportunities for social contact, increase their sense of isolation, and lead to an overall decrease in their well-being. Therefore, even though a product modification may increase well-being according to one indicator or set of A/IS stakeholders, it does not mean that this modification should automatically be adopted.Finally, organizational processes can be modified to incorporate the above strategies. Appointment of an organizational lead person for well-being impacts, e.g., a well-being lead, ombudsman,or officer can help to facilitate this effort.
## RecommendationA/IS creators should adjust their existing development, marketing, and assessment cycles to incorporate well-being concerns throughout their processes. This includes identification of an A/IS lead ombudsperson or officer; identification of stakeholders and end users; determination of possible uses, harm and risk assessment; robust stakeholder engagement; selection of well-being indicators; development of a well-being indicator measurement plan; and ongoing improvement of A/IS products and services throughout the lifecycle.
## Further Resources
Peter Senge and the Learning Organization -(synopsis) Purdue University
Stakeholder Engagement: A Good Practice Handbook for Companies Doing Business in Emerging Markets. International Finance Corporation, May
GNH Certification, Centre for Bhutanand GNH Studies,
J. Helliwell, R. Layard, and J. Sachs, Eds., βThe Objective Benefits of Subjective Well-Being,β in World Happiness Report
New York: UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, pp. 54-79,
Global Happiness and Well-being Policy Report by the Global Happiness Council,
"p.78-79