Exposing Civic Normativity: Applying the Persona-Based Walkthrough Method to the Dutch Happiness Meter

Abstract

This study analyzes the Dutch Happiness Meter (HM)–a digital tool employed by the government to quantify citizens’ happiness–through the lens of critical data studies. We introduce the “persona-based walkthrough method” to explore the HM’s algorithmic underpinnings and its socio-technical construction of happiness. By navigating diverse personas through the HM’s interface, we answer the following questions: RQ1: How does the Dutch Happiness Meter (HM) embed socio-cultural norms and biases within its algorithmic design, and how do these translate to the quantification and representation of citizen happiness across diverse demographic groups? RQ2: How does the persona-based walkthrough method reveal the limitations and exclusions of black-boxed e-government applications such as the Happiness Meter, and how can this method contribute to algorithmic accountability and transparency in digital governance? and RQ3: What are the implications of datafying subjective well-being through tools like the Happiness Meter on public perceptions of happiness, and how does algorithmic governance influence the epistemologies of well-being in the context of policy-making and societal inclusion? The analysis untangles cultural and computational synergies, examining their influence on civic normativity and quantified well-being. Our contribution shows how such data-driven systems construct a normative understanding of happiness which impacts governmental strategies and public accountability. The findings reveal critical insights into the underlying assumptions and biases in