Mind mapping for collaborative brainstorming via MindMeister

By: Chris Murphy

While I am not in the habit of writing product reviews, I felt MindMeister was one product that was worth the time to expound upon.

Mind mapping is not anything new — it has been around for quite some time and while I cannot attest to the degree of its current popularity, I will admit that it has greatly improved my productivity.

By nature, I am not so much of a linear thinker – at least most of the time. Depending on the task or discussion at hand, I may think in circles; I may run off on a tangent; I may need to follow some linear progression, but all the while still keeping other concepts and ideas in the back of my head.

Traditional note taking is fine in most cases, but once I get into brainstorming mode things start to fall apart.

I stumbled upon MindMeister whist searching for freeware mind mapping software, and while there are a few nice packages available that do the job (such as MindJet’s “MindManager” suite of tools), I needed something immediate, and accessible by my team and clients.

MindMister is a web-based mind mapping tool with a service model that is both economical for the average user, and affordable for the power users. There are three packages to choose from:

1. Free - you can create, share, import/export and collaborate on maps;
2. Premium - I have not actually upgraded my account so I am not quite sure what additional features are offered here, but the price is hardly something to balk at;
3. Team - which has enhanced functionality for collaborative environments.

Enjoy one of three simple packages, each offering a respectable feature-set of what you would expect from desktop-based software and more.

I had a recent opportunity to work with a client in the UK (I live and work in Canada) on a collaborative map, and the real-time updates were a great little feature (while using the free account). The application was responsive, very intuitive, and had great keyboard support. This third feature was the selling point for me as I hate to click around screen too much. Most web-based applications fall on their face when it comes to the user experience, and small things like integrated keyboard support, proper tabbing, toolbar layout really work to round out the whole experience.

The aesthetic quality of the application is just pure candy for the eye. Kudos to the design team who worked on it.

On top of the aforementioned features, MindMeister offers some invisible features such as state/editing history, autosaving (for those still paranoid about losing data) , and strong export/import support for existing users of desktop-based software (MindManager, FreeMind, etc.).

Now, for those Mashup feinds out there — MindMeister also offers an extensible API for creating your own applications as well as a robust library of gadgets for integration into your workflow.

Overall, it is rare that I come across a well-rounded productivity tool — desktop-based or otherwise. When you get a chance, give the free account at MindMeister and whirl. It wont cost you anything but a few minutes of your lunch break.

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• Posted: November 5, 2007
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