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Do you like to view mindmaps?

by Alastair McDermott
19 replies
I'm currently making some mindmaps and I was wondering if they'd be any use as free content on one of my sites.

If you're not familiar with mind maps they're a kind of spray diagram like this (except with actual text in the boxes):



The idea is to have a central topic, with a bunch of subtopics breaking it down in more and more detail.The ones I'm creating are several levels deep, all related to web design and WordPress.

The big problem I see with the mindmap is that while it is interactive, it's a bit like getting a bunch of slides without seeing the actual presentation - lots of condensed info but not so much context (depending on the slide design and the mind map design).

Any thoughts on whether mindmaps might be useful?
#mindmaps #view
  • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
    Personally, I hate them, but many folks seem to love them. I see a lot of people sprucing up their products with mind maps. Those are smart people, adding perceived and actual value with very little effort. Your visitors and customers will most likely be happy if you started supplying them with mind maps... as long as you don't go overboard with your diagrams. I have seen some pretty crazy mind maps that require a microscope to actually read.
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

      Personally, I hate them, but many folks seem to love them.
      Yeah, pretty much this.

      Mindmaps are supposed to help you organise your thoughts by mimicking the way our brains naturally associate information.

      Every time I see one, I go "WTF, this is how your brain works? No wonder you can't think properly."

      There's no functional difference between a mindmap and a...
      • Standard
      • Bulleted
      • List
        1. With
        2. Various
        3. Subtopics
          • At
          • Different
          • Levels

      ...except that the list method inherently carries importance and ordering information. Mindmaps just let you drag stuff around in a big chaotic splay instead of making you organise them.

      Which is the problem with your brain, too. It's not that you don't KNOW the information, you just can't FIND it, because nothing up there is organised.
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      • Profile picture of the author Kelly Verge
        Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

        Every time I see one, I go "WTF, this is how your brain works? No wonder you can't think properly."
        You're a riot, Caliban.

        Mindmaps attempt to bridge the gap between words and pictures for those who are more visual learners. Obviously Brian and Caliban prefer to read.

        Brian is also right that they can add quite a bit of both actual and perceived value to a product.

        I often brainstorm using a mindmap, take the "outline" from the mindmap and create the written product, then include both within the final product.
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        • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
          Originally Posted by Kelly Verge View Post

          Mindmaps attempt to bridge the gap between words and pictures for those who are more visual learners.
          Except the picture doesn't mean anything.

          See, here's how visual learning works. "Give the package to the UPS driver" is too abstract. So you use a picture.


          See, here's a guy with a package clearly handing it to a man wearing brown clothes. A visual learner connects the dots and says "I see! The package goes to the person in the brown uniform!" And he gives the package to the UPS driver.

          But that's not a mindmap. A mindmap is just the same basic text, and also some abstract little bubbles, and also some lines, and also what the f#$k.


          I mean, you can do better than that with plain old text.

          You -> Package -> UPS Guy

          I understand what mindmaps are supposed to do, but it just doesn't seem like they're even remotely successful at doing it. And that's not so much because mindmaps are bad... but because most people suck at making them.
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          "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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          • Profile picture of the author Kelly Verge
            Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

            Except the picture doesn't mean anything.

            See, here's how visual learning works. "Give the package to the UPS driver" is too abstract. So you use a picture.


            See, here's a guy with a package clearly handing it to a man wearing brown clothes. A visual learner connects the dots and says "I see! The package goes to the person in the brown uniform!" And he gives the package to the UPS driver.

            But that's not a mindmap. A mindmap is just the same basic text, and also some abstract little bubbles, and also some lines, and also what the f#.


            I mean, you can do better than that with plain old text.

            You -> Package -> UPS Guy

            I understand what mindmaps are supposed to do, but it just doesn't seem like they're even remotely successful at doing it. And that's not so much because mindmaps are bad... but because most people suck at making them.
            I did say, "attempt."
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  • Profile picture of the author Brian John
    i like them, particularly if i'm attempting to learn someone else's program. i don't look at them too regularly, but they're a great resource when i don't understand exactly how things relate to the overall plan/model. simply put, they can very quickly alleviate confusion by making things easy to conceptualize.
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  • Profile picture of the author weebeastie
    I like them and use them as a visual prop for keeping on track with projects. I can always go back at a later date and see what I had planned and pick up right where I left off. I avoid going off on tangents that way.

    Mindmaps don't rule what I do but I find them to be a useful simple guide. They make it easier for me to break up the pie and deal with the slices one at a time...
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  • Profile picture of the author Alastair McDermott
    I'm also looking at Prezi to create a presentation video - something a bit more interesting than the usual slides. It doesn't handle mindmaps, but it does import PDF.
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanphillips
    I love mindmaps, I find them really helpful. I always use pen and paper first then get everything in a mind map

    I use mindmeister
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  • Profile picture of the author Taniwha
    They're great. It gives me the bigger picture of the project i'll be working on, and generally sorts everything out into proper order in my brain.
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  • Profile picture of the author JulioGarabot
    If you have to do step by step process mindmap is a great aid to follow instructions

    Julio
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    I love MindMaps. If properly designed, they can explain a complex structure in an easy-to-follow visual way.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fixers
    I'm a lover not a hater!! I guess this comes slightly from processs improvement projects I have worked on in my FT job but I just find them easier to follow and visualise.
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    • Profile picture of the author Robert Boduch
      I'm in the "love mindmaps" camp and have been for a while. But I find that I get the most use from mindmaps I create -- such as product or chapter outlines, or summaries of lectures or webinars. These have the most meaning to me because of the personal connection with each element and it all ties together in a natural fashion.

      Mindmaps created by others can sometimes be challenging to understand and as Brian pointed out, some require a microscope, or at least a magnifying glass to read.

      The OP's mindmaps are visually attractive -- and that's important too in drawing eyeballs and adding visitor value.

      Robert
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  • Profile picture of the author peptone
    I love Mindmaps because they give an overview of a topic and make it easier to understand. Some people don't like them so why not give away a pdf also, which explains the content of the Mindmap and goes into more detail.
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  • Profile picture of the author JOSourcing
    Banned
    I'm having some fun with Freemind, as introduced in "Paul's Handy Little Guide to the Warrior Forum." I can't wait to finish building my own 'mind and experimenting with its different exporting formats.
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  • Profile picture of the author sshusain
    I like Mind Map, i got Mindjet. Basically you can visually see your ideas and there is one
    step (or Node) missing then you find it very easily. (in mindmaps).

    Shahid
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    • Profile picture of the author Christines Dream
      I like mindmaps. I think they are a great reference tool. I often refer back to them throughout the learning process.
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  • Profile picture of the author Austin357
    I think its a good additional resource to keep you focused on the big picture. You still have to take massive action for any of it to work.
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