wissel.net

wissel.net

Usability - Productivity - Business - The web - Singapore & Twins

Visualize using Mindmaps

Mindmaps are an incredible tool to collect and share thoughts on any topic in a very compact and comprehensive format. Just look at the sample Ernest did for Water (his current topic in science):
Mindmap about water, click for a larger version
He used iMindmap which has the most natural look from all mindmap software offerings I've seen so far (and is available on Win, Linux, Mac and iPad). It is the commercial offering of Tony Buzan who claims the invention of mindmapping. If you like eProductivity, you might want to look at MindManager, which is primarily Windows (there's a Mac version that's usually behind and there's no Linux version) and can be imported into eProductiviy. Notes user will find MindPlan intriguing. It is available on all Notes client platforms, can show data in MindMaps and Gannt charts and uses NSF as its storage engine. Sharing and collaborating on MindPlan is a breeze. For fans of OpenSource there is FreeMind also available on many platforms. A very different approach is used by The Brain, which allows to dynamically navigate the map and put any topic into the center. Once you are ready to get frequent updates on what's up in the mindmapping software scene, subscribe to the Mindmapping software blog.

Posted by on 15 August 2010 | Comments (6) | categories: After hours Software Twins

Comments

  1. posted by Dan Sickles on Monday 16 August 2010 AD:
    Also check out iThoughts/iThoughtsHD for the iPh* & iPad respectively. Fantastic on the iPad.
  2. posted by Patrick Kwinten on Monday 16 August 2010 AD:
    Why not use Mindmeister ?
  3. posted by Stephan H. Wissel on Monday 16 August 2010 AD:
    @Patrick: Oneline only solutions don't fly for frequent fliers or people in latency challenged parts of the world - both would apply to me. And I think iMindmap looks way nicer.

    Quick verdict:
    • MindManager for eProductivity users on Windows
    • Mindplan for teams on Notes
    • iMindManager for illustrations
    • TheBrain for tracking knowledge (I still struggle with the UI a bit)
  4. posted by Simon O'Doherty on Monday 16 August 2010 AD:
    I use XMind (PC/OSX) and iThoughtsHD.

    { Link }

    I tried mindmeister and I didn't like it. It may of changed when I last used it, but when I create something I like to have full control over the files if I need to export them.

    I was annoyed after getting the iPhone app they expected me to pay further to transfer my files.

    I'd also recommend MindPlan. It integrates into the notes client.

    { Link }
  5. posted by Graham Dodge on Tuesday 17 August 2010 AD:
    minor technical issue:

    Water has four states.

    ice/liquid/steam/plasma

    { Link }
  6. posted by Stephan H. Wissel on Tuesday 17 August 2010 AD:
    @Graham: Noted and fixed.