The Mind Mapping Software Weblog

The GTD perspective on GyroQ

Marc Orchant, writing in the ZDNet Office Evolution Blog, shares his perspectives on Gyronix's new GyroQ idea capture tool, from the perspective of David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) system, of which he is a devotee. His assessment: GyroQ has become an indispensable part of his daily information processing routine:

"One of the challenges I've always wrestled with is keeping the processing and the doing separate. It's all to easy to look at an item in your Inbox (or In-tray) and think, 'I should really get after this right now.' If you know GTD, you know that, the two-minute rule aside, that's a bad idea that causes you to allow 'stuff' to remain unaddressed while you go chasing a particular thought down. There's real rigor and discipline involved with keeping the two activities separate and discrete and, so far, I'm finding GyroQ helps enormously with that. Working from the In-tray map keeps my focus on processing "stuff" and provides less of an opportunity (or temptation) to leave items hanging around. When the map is empty, it's clearly time to take action."

Marc likes the fact he can capture an idea without much of a break in his attention or momentum. It is truly a ubiquitous capture tool, which can be used to catch ideas and inspirations as they happen -- and process them later.

Pocket Mindmap v1.3.2 released; new website

Mindjet technology partner HBB has announced the availability of Pocket Mindmap version 1.3.2, which is now fully compatible with MindManager 6. This means that maps can be viewed and edited on portable devices and easily transferred back to MindManager 6 when the users sync with their desktop computer. For more information about what's new in this version, please visit the Pocket Mindmap product page.

HBB is apparently also a reseller for Pocket Mindmap, which is developed by JKRB Software in Germany. A quick visit to the Pocket Mindmap website revealed that it has been redesigned, and the developer is now listed as a "Mindjet Partner."

Pocket Mindmap is currently the only mind mapping software program available for the Windows Mobile PC platform, and it's a very good one. JKRB has compressed a significant amount of mapping functionality into a very small screen environment. Integration with MindManager is icing on the cake, especially considering that Mindjet dropped its own Mobile PC application from its product line several years ago.

CS Odessa announces new common architecture for its apps

CS Odessa, the developer of ConceptDraw MINDMAP, just announced that its entire ConceptDraw product line will soon incorporate a new technology called TMA - True Multiplatform Architecture. TMA is an internal development tool that will provide enhanced functionality for ConceptDraw programs. Here's a quote from the company's announcement:

"Using TMA technology in our software development process means that our applications will be capable of 100 percent of the operational system capabilities available on a particular operating system. The application user interface will now be native for the supported operating system our customer is using, applications will run faster than ever and be able to support all that unique OS-based features, such as Spotlight search on Mac OS X (first available on Tiger). New versions of our products will provide a radically different and improved user experience for our customers," said Oleg Bocharnikov, Head of Product Management Department for CS Odessa.

“Common architecture for all our ConceptDraw applications” continues Bocharnikov, “provides our customers with the ability to open their documents in any ConceptDraw application they need. For example, they can brainstorm and build a project plan in ConceptDraw MINDMAP, then use that to prepare a project schedule in ConceptDraw Project and finally illustrate it with drawings and diagrams in the TMA supported release of ConceptDraw VI.”

Another important TMA feature is the possibility to add support of other platforms with a minimum amount of development effort. CS Odessa now has the ability to develop applications that will support Linux and Windows Mobile, providing improved commercial grade applications that support diagramming, mind mapping and project management activities.

This sounds very promising. To summarize: The Mac versions of ConceptDraw products will be enabled with more OS X functionality, such as Spotlight searches. Maps created in ConceptDraw MINDMAP can be easily shared with ConceptDraw VI, CS Odessa's business diagramming program. And ConceptDraw products may soon be developed for additional computing platforms, such as Linux and Windows Mobile - cool!

I wish I could provide a link for you to learn more, but CS Odessa's website doesn't really include a "news" page. I received this news release via e-mail.

Gyronix GyroQ now in beta testing

As an idea person, I’m always on the lookout for tools and software that helps me to do a better job of capturing ideas on the fly. Gyronix, the developer who brought us the ResultManager personal productivity tool for MindManager, has created a marvelous new desktop applet called GyroQ that helps you to capture ideas, fleeting thoughts and “to do” items quickly and easily, without having to open MindManager. Later on, with the click of a button, you can dump them into the map of your choice for further processing and refinement. GyroQ is a perfect complement to MindManager!

How does it work? GyroQ sits in your Windows system tray until it’s invoked with the Ctrl-Q command. A small horizontal window pops up containing an “action item” form field, plus 3 buttons. That’s it. It’s very simple. Simply type in your thought and click the Enter key or the “add” button on the GyroQ workspace. Your idea gets added to the queue. No matter what program you’re currently working in, you can quickly capture ideas and then get back to what you were doing before. GyroQ returns to the system tray (or it can continue floating on your desktop), awaiting your next idea.

Optionally, you can create up to five different idea “types,” which are used to categorize your ideas into top-level topics of the same names when they are dumped into your mind map – a nice time-saving feature! Clicking Ctrl-Q repeatedly causes the program to cycle through each “type” you have set up.

The more steps it takes to open a program and record an idea, the less likely you are to do it. By keeping the GyroQ interface as simple as possible, Nick Duffill and his development team make it more likely that you will capture your ideas, because you can do so with a minimum of fuss – without having MindManager open all day long!

When you’re ready to deal with your accumulated ideas, you simply click the “send” button in GyroQ, and the program dumps everything into the MindManager map that you have designated in its preferences.

If you want to see GyroQ in action, take a look at the video that Eric Mack has posted to his blog. As he points out, you can use it not only as a capture tool, but you can cycle through the idea types one at a time to prompt any ideas you may have lurking within the recesses of your creative brain.

GyroQ is currently in the final stages of beta testing. Gyronix hasn’t set an official launch date for this valuable productivity tool, but it should be very soon. Watch for more information on the Gyronix website (and of course, I will let you know as soon the program launches in this blog!)

New MindManager users wiki launched

Martin Silcock, a very active participant in the MindManager Yahoo User Group, has launched a MindManager Users Wiki (collaborative workspace - see definition) where users of the popular mind mapping software can collaboratively develop a comprehensive knowledgebase devoted it. There's not too much content here so far, but if you have something to contribute, why not do so!

Thematic extraction to MindManager

A company called Cirilab Inc., which specializes in developing software that can analyze unstructured text documents and can extract its major themes, has added the capability to export this data to a MindManager map. This page shows what a document synopsis looks like after it has been analyzed by the firm's "thematic extractor." Users can then export the visual outline (on the left side of the screen) to a MindManager map (pictured here) for further analysis. Cirilab is now seeking feedback on this new capability, which you can provide in the Mindjet discussion forums.

I presume that this would provide the same benefits as visual mapping does compared to a hierarchical outline -- increased clarity, and an improved ability to see connections between related topics.

CS Odessa releases ConceptDraw MINDMAP v4.5

CS Odessa has announced the availability of version 4.5 of its ConceptDraw MINDMAP program. This update, which is free to existing users, contains a number of enhancements and fixes, including:

• A spell checker,
• Improvements to the user interface of the Mac OS X version, and
• Improved PDF export

You can learn more and download this new version of ConceptDraw MINDMAP here.

Coming soon: Map4Plan project management add-in for MindManager

MindBusiness GmBH, a German company that develops add-ins for MindManager, has announced that it will introduce an English-language version of its new Map4Plan project management tool by the end of August 2006. Map4Plan enables you to create detailed project plans, check lists, cost overviews, timetables and reports.

Help to promote the mind mapping revolution in business

Most executives today face an endless barrage of e-mails, phone calls and new projects, which makes it difficult for them to juggle everything. They are also required to gather, organize, analyze, synthesize and make sense of unprecedented amounts of information, deftly separating the wheat from the chaff and making fast, informed decisions.

Mind mapping software is uniquely suited to these needs, and its acceptance is steadily growing. But there’s not a lot of quantitative data available anywhere on what people are doing with it, and how it benefits them. With this survey, I am about to change that. My goal is to quantify this revolution, and broadly share the results. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=832072453007

Your feedback will help to reinforce the specific value that mind mapping software offers to businesses today. Thank you!

Managing the filmmaking process with MindManager

The Hollywood Reporter website is the last place I'd expect to see an article extolling the virtues of a mind mapping program. But that's just what happened last week: This tinseltown tattler has written a profile of how independent filmmaker Joel Rasmussen utilized MindManager on a Tablet PC in numerous ways on his latest film, "Before the Music Dies."

What's interesting is that Joel not only uses the popular program to manage budgets, production schedules and other esoteric stuff. He also used it to help plot the narrative flow of his narrative documentary, which explores how homogenization is destroying the U.S. music industry. In this article, he describes how he uses mind maps for:

• Keeping track of the large number of interviews he and his crew conducted, and plotting their relationships with each other
• An overall story map
• Maps that summarize each act of the film
• Maps dedicated to specific issues for onsite production, pre-production, post-production and distribution
• Planning and scripting meetings

For script meetings, Joel explains how he likes to project a mind map on the wall of the room, to encourage collaboration: "...It frees up the flow of ideas. Outlines in a very hierarchical form makes people freeze up, because they don't want to appear to be difficult. It makes all the difference between collaboration and a rigid outline."

As you would expect, producing a movie is a huge, multi-faceted project, with many details that need to be captured and managed - exactly the sort of application where mind mapping software is worth its weight in gold.

I encourage you to look beyond what Joel is specifically doing with mind mapping and generalize it. Ask yourself, what can I learn from this? How can I adapt it to my needs? I think there's a lot to be learned from the way he uses it for collaboration with his team, for example.

Thanks to Hobart Swan from Mindjet for highlighting this fascinating story in the Mindjet Blog.