The Mind Mapping Software Weblog

Solution Language Tool blends mind mapping, activity mapping

I recently learned of a new program called the Solution Language Tool, which does mind mapping plus something called activity mapping (a simple form of process mapping).  Produced by Solution Language Oy in Finland, the software application aims to provide users with a rich environment for organizing thoughts, presenting ideas and planning activities

I downloaded a trial version of the program, installed it and played with a bit, and discovered that it's a fairly rudimentary mind mapping tool that suffers from some usability issues. The program creates organic (curvy, tapered) branches using a technique similar to iMindMap. When you hover the cursor near your map’s central topic, a red cross hairs icon called a "hot spot” appears, which you can click on and drag your branch out from it. The program supports both automatic branch shaping, as well as free-form branches. While this worked well for the main branches, I had trouble getting it to work with the sub-branches. I was never sure when a branch was selected, which caused it to move instead of enabling me to drag a subtopic branch out from it.

The program features a two-paned interface, with a large workspace area for the visual map on the right and a narrow vertical pane containing an outline version of it on the left. The toolbar is positioned on the border between the two window panes. Mysteriously, when I was working with a mind map, the activity map icons were grayed out, and I couldn't figure out how to get them to work, so I had to send a support e-mail to the developer. It turns out that I had to right-click on the main topic in the outline view (called the Solution Explorer) and select the “new activity map” command - not very intuitive!

Activity mapping, as defined by the developer, is this:

“(It) lets the idea... be studied from a new dimension – (a) behavioral view. Activity mapping is a must in areas like business processes, information systems, logistics systems and technical systems. The topics presented in mind maps appear as responsibilities in activity maps. The communication between responsibilities is presented by messages. (An) activity map forms (a) high level behavioral presentation of the idea.” An example of an activity map is displayed to the upper right (click on the image to view a larger version). Click here to read more about activity mapping on the developer’s website.

In mind mapping mode, you can add notes to topics and create free-floating notes. You can also import images, videos and sounds into your maps, and can add file links and hypertext links to your maps. If you want to share the contents of your map with a business application like Microsoft Word, you simply perform a “select all” command, copy your map and then paste it into Word as text or as an OLE object - nice! In addition, you can publish your map to a web page, or export it to a number of image formats.

Overall, I think the developers of the Solution Language Tool need to figure out what they want this program to be when it grows up. As a mind mapping tool, it’s fairly rudimentary and has a few usability issues. And it’s competing in a market that is already crowded with many players, each of which is trying to offer something unique to users. I didn’t see anything that stood out as unique in this program.

As a process mapping tool, it asks you to arrange your information in a unique format that may seem foreign to many users - which is likely to be an uphill battle. Also, in this space, Solution Language Tool must compete against well entrenched, well accepted and easier to use business diagramming tools like Visio and SmartDraw.

In addition, I was hoping that there would be some way to capture my ideas in the mind map view, and then somehow convert them into an activity map. But apparently the program's developers consider these two types of maps to be mutually exclusive. One more thing: A shorter, more memorable name for this product would really help...

Solution Language Tool is priced at US$349, which seems rather high for a new program of somewhat limited capabilities (that's the same price as MindManager Pro 7, the market leader in mind mapping software). A student license can be purchased for only US$99. A 30-day trial version is also available from the developer’s website.

XMIND is now Leopard ready, receives recognition in China

Mango Software has released XMIND version 2.0.4, which is now compliant with Mac OS X Leopard.

This up and coming mind mapping application also recently received an award from PC World China, which named XMIND one of the "best 100 products of 2007." Congratulations on this well-deserved award. I think XMIND has a lot going for it, as I indicated in my recent product review of it.

The value of an hour

Mindjet, the developer of MindManager 7, has developed a framework to help businesses to understand the value that its mind mapping software can provide, both in terms of direct and indirect benefits. In the process, it has illuminated some interesting facts and figures that should be of interest to anyone considering investing in any brand of mind mapping software, or trying to convince their bosses to equip their team or department with these visual mapping tools.

Mindjet is communicating its findings via a marketing campaign called "The Value of an Hour." As part of their research, the Mindjet folks have identified five key challenges that corporations face today, areas where mind mapping software can help. They are:

1. Employee shortages: Due to the retirement of baby boomers and a lack of young people to fill their positions, nearly every industry is forecast to have a significant shortage of skilled workers in the years ahead. Mind mapping software can help organizations to get more productive work out of their existing employees, and may reduce the need to hire additional full-time employees.

2. Employee retention: Most knowledge workers today are overworked, with too many projects and not enough time to get everything done. The key challenge is to enable employees to achieve their individual work goals, while reducing stress. Mind mapping software can help, by enabling workers to be more efficient at gathering, distilling and communicating information, and by helping them to work their way through common tasks (such as meeting planning) faster.

3. Information overload: One study cited by Mindjet says that the average knowledge worker spends up to one-third of their work time searching for and retrieving information. Mind mapping software can help, by enabling employees to use knowledge dashboards to automate the process of gathering and manipulating the key information they need to do their jobs.

4. Time poverty: One study cited by Mindjet showed that over 90% of respondents felt an overwhelming sense of "time poverty" - not enough time to complete their work. Mind mapping software can make a difference by helping employees to be more productive and contribute to the company at a higher level.

5. Innovative and creative thinking: Companies today depend on all workers to help them continually improve and develop new ideas and breakthroughs. But with time poverty being such an extreme problem today, workers don't have time to think creatively. By helping them to complete common work tasks faster, mind mapping software can free up time for creative problem solving and innovative thinking. On average, Mindjet estimates that workers who are properly trained on its MindManager software can gain 3 to 5 hours a week.

Sounds like a pretty compelling case to me! If you want to learn more, Mindjet offers a free webcast, as well as a Value of an Hour web page that includes a productivity self-assessment calculator.

A step closer to a universal mind map file viewer?

Eric Blue has been beating the drum for some time now for a universal mind map file format, to make it easier for users of mind mapping software to easily share their files with one another, no matter what program they use. The emergence of web-based mapping tools makes this need even more urgent, he says in a recent blog post.

As a step in this direction, he has written an applet that can take a MindManager file, convert it to a FreeMind .mm file format and output it using the FreeMind Java or Flash viewer. I tried it with a simple MindManager map that I created for this occasion (unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to embed it in this TypePad blog, so it's set up as an external link).

The output is fairly simple (because that's the way the FreeMind viewer is designed), but still it's pretty intriguing to think that FreeMind could potentially be used as the "Rosetta Stone" to enable the kind of universal map file access that Eric envisions. Cool!

A comparison of Mindmeister and Comapping

James Breeze, writing last week in his UsableWorld blog, posted a really nice, tabular comparison of Mindmeister and Comapping, two of the leading web-based mind mapping tools. He compares attributes such as:

• Overall look and feel
• Notes
• Keyboard shortcuts
• Printing
• Export options
• Social networking features

Nicely done, James! He also provides a convenient list of links to online mind mapping applications.

MindApp update strengthens project management capabilities

Varatek Software recently released MindApp version 4.0, which boasts some intriguing new features. Here are some highlights:

Task tracking: The new version of MindApp includes a new project management feature called the CenterFlow Task Tracker. When you turn on this mode, any new topics you add to your map contain a set of project management icons. Clicking on the circle icon causes a drop-down list of project completion percentages to appear. If you select 50%, the circle is now half filled, to reflect the task's current status. A calendar icon enables you to select a completion date from a monthly calendar pop-up, while a clock icon enables you to enter the duration of that task, in number of hours. I really like the way this is designed, because you can enter this data without moving your mouse out of the program's workspace. You can also enter your task data using a "tracker" tab that slides out to display all of your project tasks and metadata in a tabular format. One minor complaint: The terminology that Varatek has come up with to describe all of this gets a little confusing ("leaf" vs. "non-leaf" tasks, for example).

Export to Microsoft Word: You can now export your maps to the Microsoft Word outline format - an important capability if you plan to utilize MindApp for business applications or writing.

Variable widths on first-level topics: You can now select line weight, which apparently wasn't possible in the last version of MindApp.

MindApp also has some other cool features - which may not be new in version 4.0, but are still worthy of mention:

• A set of toolbar icons which enable you to quickly select all of the topics in your map, only the current topic's siblings (at the same level of the map) or descendents (sub-topics of that topic).
• A pop-up map overview window, which makes it easier to navigate your way around large, complex maps.
• Tabs at the right side of the workspace expand into palettes (for icons, task tracking, topic properties, map layout/style and topic notes) just by hovering over them. It's a nice implementation, because when they're minimized, they maximize the workspace for your map - yet they're not even one click away. These panels can also be "pinned" open if you want them to always be displayed.
• Currently-selected topics have an asterisk displayed next to them. If you click on this symbol, a new sub-topic is created. It's easy, quick and intuitive.
• I'm a big fan of right-click commands, because they enable you to keep the mouse focused on your map, and not on running back and forth to the program's toolbar. MindApp's right-click menu is very extensive and well organized. Nice!
• If you want to collapse a set of sub-topics, you click on a minus icon next to the currently-selected topic. Pretty standard. But what's cool is that as your mouse reaches the minus icon, a target appears around it, so you know that you can click accurately on it. This could be a real advantage on smaller computer screens or when working with large maps at a fairly low level of magnification. It's a nice touch!

MindApp is another one of those up-and-coming mind mapping programs that you ought to keep your eye on. Varatek has added some great usability enhancements to it, and it already contains a substantial number of business-friendly features!

Read my review of XMIND 2008 Pro

Last week, I published a review of XMIND 2008 Pro.

XMIND, developed by Mango Software of Beijing, China, is one of the newest entrants in the field of mind mapping software. And it aims to be one of the best, if XMIND 2008 Pro is any indication. This latest iteration of XMIND offers an impressive collection of well thought-out, easy-to-use features in a polished, professional user interface. Click here to read my review of this promising program.

Results of my survey of web-based mind mapping software now available

In September, I conducted a survey of users of web-based mind mapping applications, to learn how people are utilizing them and to shed some light on the advantages, disadvantages and future potential of this exciting new technology. The results of this survey are finally available.

Here are several highlights from this report to whet your appetite:

• Many respondents view collaboration as the key value that these web-based tools provide. Real-time (synchronous) and asynchronous (not at the same time) collaboration with mind maps aren't that easy to do with desktop software, but its one of the key strengths of web-based applications. Survey respondents foresee a bright future for web-based mind mapping in this important area.
• Respondents share a widely-held perception that the features and functionality of web-based mind mapping applications aren't as good as those offered by desktop software, but they're starting to catch up. Still, respondents have a number of lingering concerns, which could limit their interest in these tools (you'll have to read the report to find out what those concerns are).
• Another major concern is the security of one's mind maps when using these tools, because your maps are stored on a remote server. Can others view my maps? If the developer of the application goes out of business, what happens to my maps?

There's a lot of great data here, as well as a lot of user opinions on what they like about web-based mind mapping tools, what needs to improve about them and where developers should focus their efforts in order to deliver the functionality that they expect. Fascinating stuff! Why not download this free report today?

VizThink: A conference and community for visual thinkers

I recently had an opportunity to speak with Tom Crawford, CEO of VizThink, a new online community for visual thinkers. The first initiative of this new group is a conference, VizThink ’08, which will be held January 27-29 in San Francisco, California.

The list of facilitators that Tom has already assembled for this conference reads like a Who's Who of visual communications, including:

• Cliff Atkinson, author of the book Beyond Bullets, which teaches a methodology for adding impact to your PowerPoint presentations – without the use of those dreaded bullet points.
• Eileen Clegg, founder of the company Visual Insight and creator of large-scale, real-time murals for organizations.
• Stephen Few, author of several books and a newsletter about communicating data visually
• Bob Horn, author of Visual Language: Global Communication for the 21st Century
• Dave Gray, founder of XPLANE, the firm that creates some amazingly lucid diagrams and illustrations that clearly and concisely explain how things work.

Tom’s attendance goal for the conference is 400 to 450 people; over 100 people have already registered. That’s great momentum, considering that the conference is still 2-1/2 months away.

The conference is the first step in Tom's strategy to bring together a community of visual thinkers - everyone from people who do mind mapping and users of PowerPoint to business illustration and geographical mapping, he wants to bring together anyone who uses the visual arts for learning and communication.

Why bring these groups together? Tom believes that there are some great opportunities for cross-pollination between the different disciplines, which should lead to innovation. He also sees some opportunities to raise general awareness about the power of visual communication, and its ability to present information in a very intuitive format.

This week, Tom has already taken the first steps to expand the VizThink website beyond conference information, launching a wiki where community members can begin to build a body of knowledge about the various visual communication disciplines.  You can also signed up to receive an e-newsletter.

I think we can expect to see some great things come from this group in the months ahead.  If you haven't visited the VizThink website yet, I strongly urge you to do so.

theRealizer is now available for Visual Mind 9

Developer Realize AB has launched a version of its brainstorming add-in tool, theRealizer, for Visual Mind. It enables you to use Visual Mind as a sophisticated brainstorming tool, defining a creative challenge, generating ideas using over 400 "idea cards" that contain questions and statements that stimulate creative ideas, and prioritizing your ideas. This tool is seamlessly integrated into Visual Mind 9.

A free evaluation version of theRealizer is available for download from the Visual Mind website. You can also purchase this valuable add-in at a special introductory price of US$139.

Please note: If you want to take advantage of theRealizer, you'll need to upgrade your copy of Visual Mind to the new version 9.1, which includes support for plug-in programs.

If theRealizer sounds familiar, it should - I wrote about it last year when its developer first introduced it as an add-in for MindManager. It's good to see that this developer is supporting other high-end mind mapping programs as well!