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Mindmapping
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Posted by jamesofford
Nov 14, 2008 at 11:22 PM
Can someone give me a good description of how they use mindmapping software? I have given a few applications a try, but haven’t been able to get too much out of them. This despite being a person who likes to have a piece of paper or a whiteboard handy when I am trying to explain something. My thinking style is very visual, yet I haven’t yet been able to get into mindmapping.
Jim
Posted by Chris Thompson
Nov 15, 2008 at 01:30 AM
Check out this link:
http://freelanceswitch.com/working/managing-multiple-freelance-gigs-with-mind-maps/
It’s one of the better examples I’ve seen. Note that this kind of use would be hard with mind map software that didn’t support automatic graphical layout… you’d spend a lot of time rearranging things.
—Chris
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Nov 15, 2008 at 04:40 AM
Speaking of mind mapping, xMind is now available open source. It is a cross-platform application (using Java). Version 3.0 has some nice features. The pay version (Pro), has a feature I have not seen in a mind mapper: GANTT charting.
Steve Z.
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Nov 18, 2008 at 09:29 PM
Jim wrote:
>My thinking style is very visual, yet I haven’t yet been
>able to get into mindmapping.
You are not the only one; I myself use it mostly for presenting information to others than for brainstorming or organisaing things on my own. I think that Stephen Diamond provided an interesting view on this in a past post http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/230/35 reproduced here for convenience:
“One thought I’ve had is that the “visual thinker” angle is
misleading. Consider that the virtue of *any* outline is that it uses
consistent visual cues to indicate the relationsips between parts and
wholes. The difference is that in a mind map, the visual cues are
more prominent. I think it may in fact be those who are NOT visual
thinkers who benefit most. If spatial visualization is not a
strength, the mindmap provides a visible spatial structure, perhaps
substituting for less conscious and inexplicit visual structuring
that the _low_ visual thinker might find harder to generate.”
Alexander
Posted by jaslar
Dec 8, 2008 at 02:44 AM
For me, mindmapping has two big strengths: tackling a project (brainstorming approaches and topics to investigate), and planning a speech. Often, a big project will eventually move into other tools to develop all the details, but the visual start helps me get the big pieces right.
It really shines for both planning and giving a speech. Assuming you can talk from an outline (rather than having to read it word for word), a mindmap is just a wonderfully efficient approach. Get it down to a single page or image, and you only need one piece of paper. Alternatively, you can project it instead of PowerPoint—a single image that does something PowerPoint cannot—show how everything relates to the topic.