Free MindMapping Software
Fuzzy
Sam Williams
speed and intuitiveness of the interface are fantastic. It's one of the
few apps I knew I had to own within a few seconds of trying it for the
first time. You might find the same... if so, the free trial will be
well worth your time.
Nphorcer
and mind map views.
bill7tx
OS. Mindmaps convert to outlines and back. Mindmaps can be created on
the Palm and passed to the PC, and vice-versa (although graphics other
than geometric figures may be lost when passing back to the Palm).
Export mindmaps as HTML or in common graphic formats. Transfer outlines
to word processor. This is a very mature product with a huge user base.
http://www.inspiration.com
Jan Erik Moström
NovaMind is *much* better.
--
Jan Erik Moström, mos...@gmail.com
Sam Williams
available for Windows. I'll be interested to see how the imminent 1.0
release turns out...
artcanad...@yahoo.com
liked so much better?
DT
artcanad...@yahoo.com
that? That would be useful.
DT
Jan Erik Moström
Inspiration. I found it to be rather cumbersome and non-intuitive to
use (it's been a while so I don't remember too many details), it's
difficult to describe but it felt really awkward to use it. One thing
I do remember that definitely was a problem was that there was no real
exporting (one that preserved the data and the relationship between
the data, I'm not counting word, html, etc in this category).
NovaMind is easier to use, and it can preserve the relationship of the
data. It also works nicely together with other Mac applications.
However, there is one thing in Inspiration I wished that NovaMind had:
the possibility to have more than one "top level item" in one mindmap.
bill7tx
Inspiration or bought separately. Check their Web site. Personally, I
find it very useful.
bill7tx
Inspiration on the Mac, apparently, I'm using it on a PC. You're using
an older version, I'm using the newest. Not too sure it makes sense to
disagree with you, based on the differences -- we aren't comparing the
same experience. I find Inspiration very easy and intuitive, and sfaics
the relationship between the data and the data itself is unaffected
when it transfers to the Palm. What qualifies as "real exporting" for
you? My only hope is that in a future version Inspiration will support
saving as OPML.
Jan Erik Moström
> Inspiration on the Mac, apparently,
I'm not using it all, I can imagine that it works fine on Windows ...
that is actually a part of the problem, it feel like a Windows
application instead of a Mac application.
> What qualifies as "real exporting" for
> you? My only hope is that in a future version Inspiration will support
> saving as OPML.
As I said previously, it should keep the structural info like who is
the parent/child/sibling of another note, notes etc. And it should
export that info in way so another application can read it. OPML would
be one such format.
Chris Lott
anyone have samples they would like to share? I've finally started
using MindManager, but I'm sure I'm not using it to its full
potential, nor am I thinking of it as a first option very often...
c
bignoseduglyguy
In my work (customer service manager for water utility in NZ) I use
mind maps for:
- Scoping out projects: roughing out the high level stuff so I can
get a sense of the size and scale of what a project might be.
- Preparing presentations: not only are mind maps good for working
out themes, running orders and such like but they can be a great
presentation medium. I recently gave a well-received 'last 6 months,
next 6 months' presentation to my peers and my boss. Everyone else
used Powerpoint slides crowded with bullets whilst I used a mind map
with all nodes closed and expanded and collapsed them as I went to
keep the audience focus on the point I was covering at the time.
Everyone sat up when they saw Powerpoint wasn't involved and two of
my peers asked how they could get IT to load the app!
- Capturing personal and management team brainstorming outputs:
delegate a mind map scribe, run over the rules for brainstorming and
off you go! Quick capture that can be tweaked and agreed at the end,
rather than endless arguments about outline levels and such.
- Process documentation: much like with projects, I use mind maps to
get the basics down and the workflows roughed out. No arrows etc but
just clustering adjacent actions and so on.
- Cascading careworn information in a new way: never underestimate
the power of the visual and the simplicity of a diagram. I have used
mind maps to impart quite detailed briefings - they always promote
discussion and often prompt positive critical questioning because
folks see the problem/situation/issue from a different angle.
And so on...
When I'm coaching, I frequently propose that once you start using m/
maps for one thing, you often find yourself thinking they might work
for another. Constant experimentation and a refusal to accept
received wisdoms unchallenged helps!
Have fun
bnug
--
bignoseduglyguy
http://www.bignoseduglyguy.com
http://www.bignoseduglyguy.com/no8wire
http://www.bignoseduglyguy.com/bnugwiki
Jan Erik Moström
> anyone have samples they would like to share? I've finally started
I've just them for planning lectures
http://www.cs.umu.se/kurser/TDBB26/HT04/bi/user.jpg
Henry
thetabletpcweblog:
http://tabletpcs.weblogsinc.com/2006/01/14/conceptexplorer-for-mindmanager-and-word/
that talks about plans for ContextExplorer for MindManager.
stevecooper
I only use them for gathering all the pieces of a issue with a complex,
varied context. For example, my gf and I recently decided to buy a
house. We sat down in front of FreeMind and dropped in all the
different ideas we had about it - the cost, planning, emotional
reaction, our alternatives, anything.
Another example; I recently served as best man at my friend's wedding.
I sketched out the speech in a mindmap; I dumped all the history and
stories I had, listed some of the important guests, thought about
themes I'd like to use, and sketched some of different speech
structures.
The mindmap lets you dump everything down then arrange in rough groups.
I find it good for clear thinking because it lets you put all the
discrete ideas down in the same space, and then allows you to group
them and compare them. It makes thinking with many different aspects
much easier - holistic thinking, if you like.
That said, it's really the second or third best alternative to other
apps. If you can put your data into something more structured, you
probably should. For example, once we made the decision to buy a house,
we used Excel to get a handle on the different numbers. Excel's better
because it's more specifically tuned to tables of numbers. I wrote the
text of my friend's speech in a text editor, because a mind-map just
can't hack it.
I think the mindmap works best when you have to deal with jumbles of
ideas all relating to the same topic but without a common form. If you
could put it into a table, you don't need a mindmap. If you could write
a single document, you don't need a mindmap.
Hope that makes sense,
Steve.
bill7tx
articles and presentations; also for exploring ideas for possible
applications to business projects.
Strategic: I use Personal Brain 3.0 (www.thebrain.com) to record web
sites I've come across in doing research; to track queries and article
submissions; to organize business projects, especially delegations and
deliverables.
Related: Not a mindmap, but I am using OneNote to help with research
notes, to assist in the transition from research to writing, and for
reports, pipeline tracking, etc.
Gary Slinger
G.
--
Gary K. Slinger
http://www.garyslinger.com
Paul
Allen's mindmaps at his seminar. I use it a lot like stevecooper does
- for capturing the disparate segments of a complex, multi-faceted
idea. It's great for that because (IMO, at least) it's that nice
balance of fast stream-of-consciousness idea capture and rough
organization.
I've started several projects with FreeMind, and used it to capture
ideas on other things, like the rough beginnings of my 50,000 foot
view.
I haven't tried the other apps mentioned, but Freemind is free and
works rather nicely, IMHO. I'd certainly recommend giving it a try.
Jeff Shell
studied disciple of mind-maps, but in my few times playing with
software (this was a few years ago), I didn't find it helpful with
thinking. The map points were either too big or too small, the tools
didn't snap or weren't intuitive, it was hard to visualize the whole
map, etc. I felt like I spent far more time thinking about the program
instead of what I was trying to map.
That said, I have used the map view a few times in Tinderbox to think
through some projects and it's worked out nice, especially since I can
use it within my GTD document and harvest my actions right out of the
map. But when done, I'm usually right back in the outline views.
Tinderbox's mapping support isn't flashy or highly visual like some of
the MindMapping tools I've looked at, but it works and the data does
have meaning. I think that was the other problem I had with other
mind-mappers, at least ones based on graphing packages - it was hard
for me to really harvest the data.
I wrote some thoughts about it a month and a half ago.
http://griddlenoise.blogspot.com/2005/12/tinderbox-planning-and-getting-things.html
Most of the time though when I need to map - which is rare, but it is a
good form when the structure's not clear - paper works best for me as
long as I can get it transcribed fairly quickly.
stevecooper
> mind-mappers, at least ones based on graphing packages - it was hard
> for me to really harvest the data.
I think that's absolutely to be expected. Mind-mapping has almost no
structure - just a text outline and maybe some display cruft around it.
Which is why it only really excels for multi-facetted thinking - that
is, thinking in which the different parts can't really by integrated
into any consistent whole. If there -were- some consistent whole you
could fit it into, there'd probably be a more appropriate app. You
don't plan best in a mind-map, because there are real planning apps out
there. You don't present best in a mind-map, because there is
presentation software out there. Etc.
But it can be good if you need to hold many aspects in mind at the same
time. If you need to give a presentation about a plan to publicise a
new zoo, for example, the mindmap contains a bit on the presentation, a
bit on the plan, a bit on the publicity material, and bits on the zoo
itself. For some problems, it can be better to accept the rather
limited structuring capacity of the mindmap than keeping everything
split across many applications. That can help you cohere the many parts
of your problem.
That's my experience, anyway.
Sam Williams
single constraint...
...sequencing.
If I start brainstorming straight into an outline, there's a top and
bottom to the page. I often find this a source of significant
friction... I end up moving things around, reordering instead of just
slamming new ideas down on the page. With a mind map, the crazy
amorphous gestalt that appears on the page seems less "perfect", and
therefore somehow less restrictive, to that process.
Even better in this respect is MindManager's "brainstorm mode". In this
mode, there are literally no relationships between the blobs; you just
type Idea [enter] Idea [enter] Idea [enter] until the well is dry,
*then* start ordering and refactoring on the pasteboard.
Elisabeth
everything I'm doing, rather than separate maps of individual projects.
It's also really easy to keep re-centering the images. In some mind
mappers, you have to scroll off your screen to see different parts of
the map, and that makes it not useful for me. THe university makes
another mind map available for free, but I don't like it as well for
that reason. I am still in the free-trial period with Personal Brain.
It's affordable for me, which MindManager, as I recall, is not. and I
think that's why I started my experiments with PB. Since the "brain"
contains all my projects and idea, I can link then from one place to
another, which I frequently need to do. I can also attach other
document types - important because keeping all my "stuff" organized is
hard.
bill7tx
Personal Brain. I have been using Personal Brain since version 1 was in
beta, maybe ten years ago. I think it's great for exactly the reasons
you gave. Being able to link to any document on my network and to any
url on the Web is another plus.
Bill