MindManager 6.0 and 6.0.490
Get organized by easily mapping the things you need to do, flying solo or with a team
Reviewed by Harry {doc} Babad
Mindjet, Inc Support: Online via the Mindjet Service-Center. $229 List, $190 Street, $130 Academic USD, List £149 GBP Released: 27 November 2006 Download Size: 41.0 MB Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4.x Tiger or greater, universal binary. Recommended: G4, G5 with 1.25 GHz or greater or Intel Core Duo 1.67 GHz or greater. There is also a PC version; the file types between the two platforms are compatible. The product comes with a free program called MindManager Viewer that allows others to read maps, despite not having the MindManager software. Audience: Anyone interested in quickly and painlessly organizing complex projects, reports or activities in a manner that is visually clear and understandable to all who work with you. Strength — A clean easy to use interface that has you producing useful Maps in hardly any time at all. Weakness — Lack of a formal manual and advanced tutorials will slow down your ability to take full advantage of this full-featured product. The software was tested on a 1 GHz dual processor PowerPC G4 Macintosh with 2 GB DDR SDRAM running under OS X 10.4.8.Product and company names and logos in this review may be registered trademarks of their respective companies. |
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Overview From Jeffery Battersby’s September 25, 2006 MacWorld Review: “MindManager 6.0.4 Mac is a visual organizational tool that you can use to collect and organize—or web—a variety of ideas that may have a single obvious theme, but that may not have obvious, direct relationships to each other. Similar to NovaMind Software’s NovaMind, MindManager allows you to sequence complex ideas into an easily understandable form and gives you the ability to link documents, images, timelines, and organizational charts to your idea maps, making a range of information available in a single document.
“MindManager 6 is the Mac version of a product that’s been available on Windows for about 12 years. Rather than doing a straight port from the Windows version to the Mac, Mindjet built a brand new application, paying strict attention to Apple’s design guidelines, making MindManager feel as familiar as Apple’s Pages and Keynote.”
http://www.macworld.com/2006/09/reviews/mindmanager6/index.php
Introduction
Over the last several years I’ve tested a number of brainstorming (e.g., mind mapping programs for macC. These included: 7.5, now X 8.0 [$69.00 USD] a project development planning and management tool for business which can be used to brainstorm; NovaMind 2.4.4, now 3.2.6 [$99USD], which is a key tool used to conduct and record the outcomes of brainstorming sessions.
I’ve also looked at, but not formally reviewed, ConceptDraw MINDMAP 4.5 [$119USD], a tool for brainstorming, mind mapping and visual thinking best used for documenting ideas, making decisions and planning projects. [There are also many PC tools available for this purpose.]
Mind Mapping, Duh — If you’re not sure you know what mind mapping or brainstorming are check out their Wikipedia descriptions. As you dive into brainstorming and mind mapping you need to remember that a map is not the same as the territory it represents. It is a way to better visualize the details of some of the important groups of trees without getting lost in the forest.
You can think of a mind map as sort of a two-dimensional outline of ... whatever. You start from a central topic or theme and start adding (pasting) subsidiary topics around it where they occur to you, gradually building up a network of ideas. As mind mapping gurus often note, when you start mapping, you don't have to have the full structure of the information in your head. You can just get ideas down on screen as they occur to you and see how they all fit together. At the end of a session, you cleanup inputs by tossing those that don’t. Back in the pre-PC days we did this with colored PostIt notes on a white or blackboard. Why PostIt notes, you ask? So we can move thing around easier. As your map evolves you can highlight critical parts in colors or by changing font, add icons and images to help you visualize what’s going on. Then on your computer, annotate the topics and subtopics with notes, links or attachments containing additional supporting information. All of this helps you keep track of what's going on in your project and to provoke added refinement to the ideas in your head. |
Looking Backwards, Mind Mapping and Me — I’ve over the years, had to plan complex events; sometimes not associated with my professional work. At work, planning, mostly of R&D projects or plant implementation of chemical process and flowsheet development efforts, we used the PERT software mandated by our IT types, all of who were PC or mainframe addicts.
In my volunteer work, neither the software nor incentives existed in our organizations to use such “complex” planning tools. Although to generate ideas, we did hold brainstorming meetings. Information capture and even draft in-meeting documentation were done with a combination of flip charts, PostIt notes and PC based word processing using MS Word’s outline feature.
For my own volunteer efforts, well before I discovered MindManager, I stumbled along using outliners. I’d tried the products mentioned above but they were not intuitive, and therefore comfortable to use. This was especially true on the rare occasions I need a combination brainstorming and planning tool. I decided to give the product a try after I checked out MindManager 6, read the publisher’s description and a bit of what others were saying about the product.
As an Aside — I actually found this map on the Internet that illustrated Coté’s mapping of his own MindManager Review. Cote is using MindManager’s graphics feature and isolating parts of his map by using the product’s boundary feature — The green cloud. [http://www.redmonk.com/cote/archives/2006/06/mindjets_mindma.html]
Testing MindManager
I’ve been playing around with the product over the last week or so and enjoying the experience more than with other comparable products. Mind mapping - brainstorming provides me a great means for capturing and then organizing my specific-project oriented thinking. It allows me to establish relationships between parts, actions needed, implementation alternatives or to-dos. This is especially valuable for someone like me who suffers from (actually I rejoice in) “non-linear reasoning.”
Testing, Testing One-Two — My focus in the review details that follow is on how an individual or very small team could have used the product to plan two activities; a releasing a CD set and a community concert. Specifically to: [1] Create a guide on how to produce a 2 CD Concert Sampler for the 3 Rivers Folklife Society; as a fundraiser for our annual music festival; and [2] Map the process and constraints for producing a Community Concert as a fund raiser for my Synagogue featuring a talented and well know blues-singer and educator.
I have based my two MindManager test mapping exercises on the meeting minutes, notes and other data [To-Dos] I colleted during the planning and implementation efforts for these two projects. In both instances I’m using my lessons learned and post mortem notes as a surrogate for the results of actual team brainstorming inputs, which didn’t occur. [All results in the maps are 20-20 hindsights.]
Both of these projects, completed earlier this year, were, for me, a first of a kind effort. The usual volunteers in both organizations – are folks who typically were all busy with other earlier due-date projects. They provided email feedback and telephone support as they could. However, like most volunteers, they were saturated. So I had to come up to speed fast – there was no one to pass the buck to. [This is not a dig at the support I got, it’s as you who volunteer know, just the state of our universe. Folks who actually volunteer effectively are always saturated.]
The Project Results — Both projects were a success but with some picky reservations on my part. The concert was profitable but with lower income than we’d projected, and the CDs were created on time, under cost, and with great sound. But, in a typical oversight, we hadn’t figured out in advance how best to market 1,000 of them. [The low break-even point meant that selling fewer than the number printed would keep our risk low.]
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The Front Row Seat CD |
The Hawkeye Concert |
With better planning using brainstorming techniques and tools to capture the results, we might not have had as many surprises and might have somewhat improved the outcome. But then I used to believe in the tooth fairy, a real silver dollar under my pillow, would you believe – three if I used the doorknob and string trick to pop the loose tooth.
In any case, had I had the software when I planned the two events, I certainly would have had a way to present complex concepts in a visual form—an aide when presenting information to time rushed boards of directors.
Working With
Installing this application is simple. Open its .dmg, and drag it you’re your applications folder and follow instructions. Spend a few minutes with the tutorial, read quick start guide. You might even review the benefits of “mapping” found on the vendor’s webpage.
The tutorial and quick start guides are accessible from the MindManager 6 start-up dialog. You can kill this dialog, when it no longer serves your purpose. Then you’re ready to start using the product.
Implicit in the MindManager metaphor is that you are going to plan something, a project, a day, an organizational structure, a book chapter, a detailed lesson plan or an audio blog. ‘S wonderful, notice that all of these items are projects, stuff you want to do.
Why not just jump in and work with the MindManager software, as Macintosh users so usually do? My reasoning: brainstorming and mind mapping including detailed planning are conceptually different from the tools most of us usually work with. Soft software is also more complex then the shareware we install to enhance out computing experiences. I’ve always assumed that I could grab any non-graphics related program and jump in running… but hours later, frustrated has hell, I was often back to the help files or manual to learn programs with different functions then I normally use. Advice — For this product, despite is smooth and well thought out interface, take a minute or three to learn a bit more before starting to work on your own projects, especially if you have a deadline to meet. [Enough preaching doc…!] |
Working with the product is easy, especially if one of the templates Mindjet provides meets your needs. MindManager ships with seven pre-defined templates. In addition to having access to a blank map, you can create a company organizational structure or create its organization chart, work on decision making needed to be successful in a project. You can outline the contents and layout the scope of a meeting, or formulate a resume. You can even set up ToDo lists or create a week at a glance to let you project your up coming activities.
In order to speed up
my learning of dealing with subsets and links, I actually used the generic
decision making template provided, but did not use it for avowed titled
purpose. Although the templates was not focused at the focus of the project
needed to map, using it saved me time by avoiding the need to manually set up
nested subtopics.
The strength of the program, as Jeffery Battersby noted in Macworld, “is really unleashed when you start with a completely blank document and let the ideas roll out of your head and onto the page. Hitting the return key creates new sub-topics from the main topic. Holding down the Command key while pressing return creates a new sub-topic from the currently selected sub-topic, making it easy to let the ideas flow. This is similar to features found in other mind-mapping programs, which often have hot keys for creating new topics and sub-topics.”
Your main idea (focus)
is written in the center of the map. Supporting items (ideas) are added to
your map around the main idea, in a clockwise fashion.
After you capture the first level of details (subtopics), you can subdivide each item further, add links related to them to the Internet, or link to folders or documents containing supporting documentation for that part (task) of the project. A second subtopic set that supports the named project plan associated with more in-depth particulars can then be added. It’s all about documenting (mapping) what you have to know before you can go much further with your project.
Think about it – who does what to whom when always applies to projects. Obviously each of the subtopics to your top-level map can generate as many new maps as needed, allowing greater details — each with its own subtopics.
No this is not perpetual mouse motion or a Parkinsonian effect. [See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinsons_law.] You’re supposed to stop adding layers or peripheral details when you have enough to get on with the job.
The Balance Map Tool — When I was done laying out the maps, I used the Balance Map to automatically distribute topics to visually balance your map — pretty-pretty neat. I also found the Fit Map function useful when working. It allowed me to save mousing time by instantly resizing my map to fit my main screen window. I thereby required navigation screen movements as I worked my way around the various subtopics and their subtopics.
Exporting and Sharing — Once you’ve created your map, as Jeffery Battersby further noted in his Macworld review, “you can easily share it by exporting it as a PDF, JPG, TIFF, or PNG file. Or, you can export the entire map in outline form, including all your notes, as text.
Better yet, Mindjet MindManager® Viewer 6 is free software [14.5 MB] that enables you to easily view MindManager maps on your desktop. Navigate through the map by expanding and contracting branches, zooming in and out, and searching for specific words or icons. You can even follow hyperlinks to related content. It is available on the Mindjet website under downloads.
Details-Details-Details — No I’m not going to bore you to tears with details. [My editor won’t let me.] The level one results from my work are show below. My completed full three-level details are provided at the end of this article. It is important to note that had I had more time I could have more fully integrated all of my copious notes, into these maps, or at least abstracted the details. The might have constituted a fourth level of detail.
I could have also established some scheduling details. That would have been initially difficult because it’s not what I was concentrating on as I learned to use the program.
Review Limitations
I have not yet become comfortable with using map markers, relationship lines, or boundaries, nor with all of the parts of the Task Information pallet. Using timeframes or some of the other elegant Inspector tools will take a little more practice. But with additional map I draw, I get more adventuresome and dig deeper into the software’s features.
Other Package Features
Use Drag and Drop — Rearrange your maps by dragging and dropping Topics. [This feature on my slightly underpowered dual processor 1000 MHz G4 Macintosh was slower then I would have liked.]
Create Hyperlinks to Websites — Insert Hyperlinks to websites or files on your hard drive. You can link to any website, map, or file, including graphics, spreadsheets, documents.
Add Notes and More — Add notes and PDFs and more to your maps. This allows you to keep all your important information in a map for easy retrieval. A useful tool that enriches the MindManager interface w/o cluttering up you view of relationships.
Link to Attachments - Attach multiple files to a Topic. [What I tried worked well, especially for tying all of my working notes on the Hawkeye concert to my map.]
Search Function — Using Spotlight Find the information you are looking for fast! Topics and Notes within your maps are indexed by Mac OS X Tiger's built-in search utility, Spotlight. [I hate the current implementation of spotlight so did not test this feature.]
Inspector Function — Access a wide variety of tools for adding map markers, setting tasks, attaching files, adding hyperlinks, changing formatting, and much more in one convenient location. This pallet acts as an additional centralized location allow fast access for tools for putting the finishing touches or detailing on you map after you’ve completed a data (mind) dump of input.
Discomforts
Advanced User Tutorials Needed — Lack of samples of images of complex projects on website with supporting tutorial about the techniques used slow down the serious user.
Lack of a Manual – The MindManager 6 Mac_Quick Start Guide, and the online tutorials/videos did not do much to allow me to rapidly become comfortable, at the beginner level, with this fine product. Since my needs went somewhat beyond beginner lever, this lack was even more of a disadvantage. However learning what I need to create my first test example, only took a few hours; amply helped by using the robust MindManager Help system.
Too few Templates — I would have like to see more that the eight starting templates [e.g., for project planning, risk analysis, lesson plans, writing complex articles (this review)]. Examples in which the map starts on the left hand side of the page would have been welcome. All of these are possible, but examples speed learning making for contented customers who spread the buzz.
Making a Book of Linked Maps — I could not determine whether I could link several maps to get to create a project book or to create layers of maps that expanded on a first-level product, to allow users to drill-down to get greater detail.
Lack of MS Office Compatibility — The PC version of the product is well integrated with the MS Office Suite. The Macintosh Version is not.
Brook Stein, MindManager product manger shared that “Our Windows version has the ability to export to Word and PowerPoint, but unfortunately at this time our Mac version can not. On Office for Windows, there is a well documented API that allows us to pass information to Word or PowerPoint to be rendered and produce the export into those file formats for our Windows version of MindManager. On the Mac, there is no API for Office for Mac; hence this it is limitation that is not easily or safely overcome to produce the same exports. We are hopeful that the new xml-based MS Office file format will help us on the Mac side, as we are also xml based in our file format .mmap when the next version of Mac Office is released.” |
Conclusions
Mindjet’s MindManager offers a simple to use – Macintosh compliant user interface tool for brainstorming and mapping everything from large projects to your holiday ToDo list. It is easy to start creating maps with which you can both organize your own thoughts and share ideas with others. The program is rich with powerful tools to help define details. It provides you the means to focus on what’s important (ideas not documentation mechanics) when trying to layout a project.
As a side benefit allows you to gain clarity of thought as you work to plan complex ideas or tasks. You can indeed take credit for the logical and even attractive easy to understand (etc.) maps you crated, just don’t tell others how much initial trial and error you need to get to that grrreat product. You do remember from High School how much fun it was to ace exams without seeming to study. This product has such a built in wow factor.
Don’t be put off by the fact that the product is somewhat more expensive than some of its competitors. Its ease of use and lack of bugs will rapidly pay for the difference in cost, even at minimum wage.
None of the lacks I’ve pointed out in the preceding section are significant flaws. All but the compatibility with MS Office can and will likely be easily fixed by the developer. Although the other items I‘ve listed above add to my discomfort with the product, once I got through my first stage learning, the program behaved flawlessly.
I’ve learned other programs quirky interfaces such as FileMaker Pro – so learning curve is not a unique MindManager problem. Once mastered – It doesn’t take long, its easy to use to free your mind to focus on what’s needed to make your project successful. Mindjet made this product, a wonderful and liberating tool – buy it, its well worth the money. I rate this product 4.0 macCs.
PS
My maps in their awesome detail, at least at today’s level of effort.
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Planning The Front Row Seat CD – In 20-20 Hindsight |
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The Hawkeye Concert – It Really Did Work Out This Way |
