What began as an initial interest in mapping the route of a trail I frequently run morphed into looking into how technology has infiltrated our exercise routines and everyday life. During the run I collected data including heart rate, elevation, distance, calories burned, etc. Once I had gathered all the data, it felt somewhat overwhelming, and potentially less helpful than I had hoped. I questioned whether the average person seeking to be more active needs all this information or does it instead serve to discourage some by making exercise more complicated tha it should be. 

From the brief, we were tasked with designing a ‘map’ and presenting it visually. The project was open-ended, in that it could be a literal interpretation of a map, or more interpretive, in the form of a concept, process, or data set. I chose to combine aspects of a conventional topographic map along with data collected during a run. There was no particular target audience for this project, rather it was an exploration into data and to question its value in relation to exercise and motivation. The final design presents several metrics, both measurable and otherwise, into a visually cohesive interpretive ‘map’.