Monday, April 6, 2009
Need some feedback please: What Mind Mapping tool are you using?
As I continue to refine, and define, the Mind Mapping Templates for SharePoint project, I need some input from those who are using mind maps.
What tool are you using and why? What are you using it for? If you have looked at a tool and chosen not to use it, why? Cost considerations, ease of use, support… all play into the mix. Your feedback is greatly appreciated on this project.
Mark
Thanks in advance for participating. Your response will help clarify the future direction of this project. — Mark
Mind Manager x5. Work bought it for me, so it was a no brainer. Great tool.
We are using FreeMind because it is free.
MindManager 8. I started with FreeMind because it is free and the best free one I tried. I downloaded the MindManager trial for your workshop and was immediately impressed. I found it easier, more intuitive to use and more productive. Love the ability to create complex templates and the Export options, particularly the interactive pdf option. Pricing does seem a bit expensive, though admittedly I did not research competitor pricing/features, but I am using MindManager frequently and am very happy with it.
I use FreeMind, because it’s free and powerful although not very polished in my opinion. I’ve tried XMind, which is also free and has a nicer look-and-feel, but is missing functionality such as the ability to have “attributes” for a node (or I just can’t figure it out).
Mindomo… the basic version is free and more than sufficient to my needs and it lets me keep my maps in the cloud for ease of access and collaboration.
Also has a fairly sophisticated UI if you’re looking for a free but Visio-like solution.
I’ve found the Concept Map Tools from the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC)
to be the easiest for my needs. They are downloadable here http://cmap.ihmc.us/download/ and free. These are quite easy to build and modify. and are readily accepted by the user community.
Cheers,
Frank Familiari, PMP
We use Visio to do mind mapping – at least for presentation purposes. Our primary MM effort is to uncover the undocumented business practices and ID all steps in the documenting process. Visio gives us multi feature CAD/Drawing capabilities like Mind Mapping, Flow Charting, Org Charting, etc. Plus, te integration with MS Office components make it a winner for us.
Allyn
I use XMind to create speeches, presentations and capture and flesh out ideas for blog postings. It’s free, powerful enough for my needs and can read Mind Manager files on the random occassion that someone sends me one.
I mostly use Freemind, it is basic but free, and it does all what I need. Occasionally, I use Bubbl.us or Mindomo.com.
Mind Manager 8.0 … along with the snazzy templates you provide of course!
FreeMind does what we need. My office does not have an authorised mind mapping tool, simple, portable, free. FreeMind v9RC has some nice additions in this version, convert to flash, text, html, and additional html formatting available. Visio is closest available to us, no native mind map tools, but good for flow and engineering diags.
Personally, I use Freemind. It’s free and is well reviewed. I also found a version which ran very well from a USB key.
At work, we use MindManager 7. I’m unsure how widely it’s used, though some people use it extensively.
I use Mindjet for information architecture work, but for my initial work where there is a lot of sensemaking and fleshing out of requirements, I use Compendium and IBIS. IBIS is really the map grammer glue that makes design rationale visible and easy to follow.
See the series “the one best practice to rule them all” on this site for more detail.
regards
Paul
Lifehacker just did a great roundup of mind mapping tools: http://lifehacker.com/5188833/hive-five-five-best-mind-mapping-applications
I just started using XMind and it works very well for my basic needs.
Thank you, everyone, for your input. I’m doing another session on the MM templates for SP this Thursday, so this is very timely. Thanks again. — Mark
Trying this free online one out at MindMeister: http://www.mindmeister.com/…not 100% compatible with IE8 yet.
I use MindGenius Business (we use it at work). Doesn’t seem as flashy as some of the other ones but it’s seems easy enough and I find it’s keyboard interface makes it easy to keep up the map during a brainstorming seesion.
Jack
Mindjet’s MindManager. It’s so easy to use and powerful.