MindGenius Ltd., a developer of desktop mind mapping software, recently launched a new iPad app that is a good fit with the needs of mobile business users. It is easy to use and contains most of the features that executives are likely to need to take notes in meetings and seminars, create quick visual to-do lists and collect ideas and information.

Here’s what MindGenius for iPad can do, and my initial reaction after working with it for several hours:

Fast topic entry: The developer has designed MindGenius for iPad to enable quick topic entry. Simply tap on the plus sign in the app’s toolbar and a new topic is created. Enter your text, and tap the plus button again, and the process repeats itself. You can also double-tap in the white space adjacent to an existing topic to quickly add a new one. These two methods enable you to quickly add multiple topics to your maps.

Excellent visual feedback when moving topics: As you would expect, moving topics in this app is simply a matter of using the tap-and-drag gesture. But what sets MindGenius for iPad apart is the excellent job it does at providing you with visual feedback, so you know where it will place your topic when you lift your finger from the screen. The topic to which the one you’re moving will be joined is highlighted with an orange outline. So far, not that much different than most mind mapping apps. But in addition, it displays a magnifying glass with a topic shape and an arrow, providing even more visual feedback on what’s about to happen.

For example, in the test map I created, I wanted to change the order of a set of sibling topics (all at the same level). I dragged the bottom one upward. As it passed over other topics, both they and the magnifying glass displayed an orange outline, indicating that the app was anticipating that I wanted to place my moving topic in relation to that one. As long as I dragged it straight down, the magnifying glass showed a downward pointing arrow, indicating that the topic would be dropped below the one I was passing over. The second I moved it to the right, the arrow changed to point right, indicating that MindGenius for iPad would now place it as a child of this topic. Nice!

Map explorer: The iPad app features a map explorer feature that enables you to move your map to a specific topic (in pan mode) or to focus in on a specific topic and its children (in focus mode). When you tap it, a pop-over window appears on the left side of the screen, showing your mind map as an expandable/contractible outline. This makes it possible to navigate large maps easier on your tablet device. Tapping on a child topic in the map explorer displays only it and its sub-topics in the app’s workspace, effectively enabling you to “focus in” on it, free of distractions. If you close the map explorer panel, the app retains the current view; to view the entire map once more, you must open the map explorer and tap on the top-most topic in the outline, which is the central topic of your map. I like this functionality; it appears to be very intuitive.

From this pop-over panel, you can also manage topic task data, add notes and create categories. Since this is the first iteration of MindGenius for iPad and it’s a free app, the developer has only enabled it to display notes and categories from mind maps created using the desktop version of MindGenius. You can’t create or edit categories in this version of the app.

Task data: MindGenius for iPad can display an impressive selection of task data, including:

• Start, end and due dates
• Priority level
• Status
• Percentage complete
• Work and duration (not sure what this is)
• Cost and quantity
• Resources

Like notes and categories, this information is read-only; you can’t add or edit task information in this app, but it will display task data from mind maps created in the desktop version of MindGenius.

Desktop integration: MindGenius for iPad Is 100% compatible with the desktop Version of the program. Notes, categories, resources, pictures and yasks are all retained as you move maps between the desktop and the mobile app. Files can be moved via Dropbox were e-mail.

What’s missing: Topic symbols and boundaries arent included in this app. But keep in mind that this is a version 1.0 product, and that the developer is still fleshing out its strategy. My expectation is that it will be a two-tier model, with a basic free version and a paid one that has more features and functionality.

Conclusion

MindGenius Ltd. has done a nice job with the launch of its new iPad app. the program has above average functionality and usability for an iPad app, and some intuitive features that make it a joy to use – such as the excellent feedback when moving topics and the ability to focus in/focus out when creating mind maps.

But the read-only functionality of notes and categories is a major drawback, in my opinion. Tapping on the screen and seeing nothing happen was frustrating. It was hard to tell at first if this was a bug in the app, or if it simply wasn’t functional in this version. It sounds like this capability will be added in a future iteration of MindGenius for iPad, in either a free or paid version.

Career planning can benefit greatly from mind mapping, because it enables you to view multiple perspectives and possibilities in a compact, visual format.

In this Mind Mapping Insider report, we’re going to take a closer look at how to adapt Reid Hoffman’s brilliant ABZ planning technique, which takes a simple but very creative approach to help you make the most of the opportunities you will face throughout your career. Hoffman was the cofounder of LinkedIn and created this savvy approach as part of his excellent new book, The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career.

Included in this “how-to” report is a convenient mind map template, so you can use what you’ve learned to create your own career planning mind map.

Members-only resource

This link to this report is only visible to members of the Mind Mapping Insider membership program. It contains a wealth of resources that can help you to be more productive, creative and have a greater impact in your life.

New reports and resources are being added to the Insider area every week. If you’re serious about becoming a mind mapper, why not check out the Mind Mapping Insider program today?

During the last year, Google+, the search engine giant’s aggressive foray into social media, has grown quickly. Along with that, mind mappers, bloggers and software developers in the field of mind mapping software have set up pages on Google+. If you click on the mind map above, you’ll be taken to clickable version of it which you can use to navigate to each personal and product page on Google+.

What’s surprising is the number of key people – and especially software developers – who are missing on this important new communication channel. While I can sympathize that this is another social media outpost they need to update on a regular basis, the fact is that having a quality presence there and excellent content that visitors give a “G+” to (their version of a “thumbs up” can play major dividends in terms of improved ranking in Google search results.

TheBrain Technologies, developer of the popular Personal Brain mind mapping and personal information management tool, recently released version 7 of the program, which has now been rechristened as TheBrain 7. It features enhanced ways to connect and link information within the program’s highly visual user interface.

According to the developer, TheBrain 7 contains over 50 new features and enhancements, including:

Animated, curved links, which make it easier to understand the relationships between pieces of information in your mind maps, plus expanded preferences for formatting topic links. Line widths of up to 15 pixels wide are now supported in version 7. I spent some time working with TheBrain 7, and found that the curved versus straight links of its predecessor don’t make that big of a difference.

Expanded linking and relationship mapping: Links in TheBrain 7 can now have arrows embedded within them to show directionality. Links can also contain notes and attachments, in addition to labels, colors and thickness attributes. This enables TheBrain 7 to be used for concept modeling and enables you to better understand how and why items are connected to each other. Advanced link properties, including direction, one-way links, notes, and attachments, are not available via the Web client.

Maximize plex button: TheBrain 7 workspace – which its developer calls the “plex” – now contains a 4-headed arrow in the upper right corner of the workspace. Clicking on it causes the program’s toolbar and its properties dialog boxes, which line the top and bottom of the screen, respectively, to disappear from view. This enables you to see more of your brain, which should be useful when working with large files or when using TheBrain 7 on a smaller screen.

Calendar improvements: TheBrain 7 can now display multiple-date events, with a black horizontal line spanning multiple days.

Improved integration between the cloud and the desktop program: TheBrain 7 offers tighter integration between the desktop and cloud-based versions of the program. When you first open TheBrain 7, it automatically connects with TheBrain’s online service, and displays all of your local and online brains in a single list, with a screen shot of each. Beneath the file name, TheBrain 7 displays whether a brain is located locally, online or both.

Improved performance and new database back end: Personal Brain never put any limits on how many thoughts a mind map could contain. Users have created maps with as many as 10,000 topics. For version 7, the software’s database back end has been rewritten for improved performance when users are working with large, complex maps.

Pricing for TheBrain 7

TheBrain 7 is offered in two editions: Free and Pro. TheBrain Free is offered at no charge and does not expire. Anyone can link ideas and web pages on their desktop and in the cloud. It doesn’t allow you to add file attachments to your brain, and only provides basic reports and no Outlook integration or printing capabilities. The Pro version offers greater options for formatting your maps, advanced search, secure cloud backup and more. TheBrain Pro is available now for US219; a Pro Combo option enables you to access the program’s cloud services, upgrades and a perpetual license at US$299 the first year, with $159 per year renewals.

Conclusion

If you are a previous user of Personal Brain, I’m not sure if I can categorically recommend that you upgrade to TheBrain 7. If you work with large files with thousands of links or need to create concept maps or other visual diagrams with more “intelligent” links, you may want to consider it. Otherwise, I’m not sure it offers a big enough leap in functionality and cosmetics to make it worth the investment. As I indicated earlier, I’m on the fence regarding curved versus straight topic links. I just don’t think it brings that much new to the table.

Mind mapped book summaries can be valuable, visual learning aids for your own use, as well as for sharing with others. But like other types of mind maps, book maps need to be created with clarity and brevity in mind.

There’s an art to extracting the key points and nuggets of knowledge from a book that may be several hundred pages in length and still end up with a visual summary that is understandable. In this new Insider report, we’ll take a closer look at 8 principles for creating an effective book mind map that will be memorable and useful for you and anyone with whom you may share it.

Members-only resource

This link to this report is only visible to members of the Mind Mapping Insider membership program. It contains a wealth of resources that can help you to be more productive, creative and have a greater impact in your life.

New reports and resources are being added to the Insider area every week. If you’re serious about becoming a mind mapper, why not check out the Mind Mapping Insider program today?

There are now at least 9 mind mapping apps available for the Android smart phone and tablet platform, with more on the way.

When I reported on mind mapping apps for Android two years ago, this smart phone platform was fairly new. Android tablets had yet to be introduced, and there were only two mind mapping apps available for this fast-growing platform. 24 months later, there are now 9, with at least one more due to be launched any day now.

A recent visit to the Google Play marketplace for Android software found these mind mapping apps:

• Mindjet for Android (formerly Thinking Space)
• MindMeister for Android
• Mind Map Memo (along with Thinking Space, one of the pioneers of this genre of apps)
• Endare Mind Maps Lite
• MindBoard
• SimpleMind for Android
• MindMapper Mobile for Android
• Mind Tux Map
• MindMemo

ThinkBuzan has also announced that it will launch an Android version of its iMindMap program in the near future.

In this new Mind Mapping Insider report, we’ll take a closer look at what works well in this mind map and what could be improved.

Members-only resource

This link to this report is only visible to members of the Mind Mapping Insider membership program. It contains a wealth of resources that can help you to be more productive, creative and have a greater impact in your life.

New reports and resources are being added to the Insider area every week. If you’re serious about becoming a mind mapper, why not check out the Mind Mapping Insider program today?

http://upyourimpact.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Up-Your-Impact-Book-Mind-Map.pdf

When it comes to developing creative ideas to enhance your work and life, there is one question that stands head and shoulders above all others. It alone is responsible for more human progress than nearly any other factor. And its the topic of this week’s Mind Mapping Insider report. It includes a resource mind map that you can use to generate breakthrough solutions, as well as instructions that explain what this question is and why it’s so powerful, as well as instructions on how to utilize the mind map.

Members-only resource

This link to this report is only visible to members of the Mind Mapping Insider membership program. It contains a wealth of resources that can help you to be more productive, creative and have a greater impact in your life.

New reports and resources are being added to the Insider area every week. If you’re serious about becoming a mind mapper, why not check out the Mind Mapping Insider program today?

Inspiration Software, a developer of mind mapping software for education and one of the pioneers of this type of program, has released an iPad app called Inspiration Maps. It offers a perfect set of features for teachers who want to incorporate visual thinking into their curricula, but it’s a little light weight for most business applications.

When you first open Inspiration Maps, you’re greeted with a template screen. Inspiration Maps gives you numerous templates to choose from. Many are educationally focused, but there are some business templates here as well, including:

• Cause and effect diagram
• Group project plan
• Root cause analysis

You can also create a blank diagram, without a template.

Creating a mind map in Inspiration Maps

Each topic in this app contains two buttons, located on alternate corners of the topic shape. The one in the upper left corner, which looks like a thought balloon, enables you to add notes to the topic via a bright yellow pop-over box – not the typical iPad dialog box – a welcome change! When you create a topic note, the button changes color from silver with a pencil to dark gray with document lines – a simple visual cue that it contains additional content. But it doesn’t scream for attention. It’s just right.

The other button, located in the lower right corner, looks like an arrow with a dotted line. Tapping on it creates a new sub-topic, joined with what looks like a hand-drawn connector line. Tapping once selects the sub-topic, while a double-tap enables you to type a name into it. This seems like extra work compared to most mind mapping apps I’ve reviewed. With other apps, when you create a new topic, the virtual keyboard pops up and you can immediately type a description into it. With Inspiration Maps, it takes an extra step.

Adjusting topic and map properties

You can change the properties of your map topics using an inspector button on the app’s toolbar. This opens a dialog box with tabs that enable you to change the topic shape (6 shapes are provided), the style of the topic (color, outline), topic text formatting and diagram-level settings (connector style, map background color). You can use a pinch gesture to manually resize a topic shape – nice!

One minor problem I ran into while editing a mind map is that sometimes I wanted to apply a style only to a single topic, but I inadvertently had several topics selected. That’s because the blue outline color Inspiration Maps uses to show that a topic is selected didn’t look much different on my iPad 1′s screen than the normal gray drop shadow color. Perhaps it’s more distinct on a newer iPad with the higher-resolution retina display, but I found it took a little getting used to on my “old” tablet.

You can also add images to your diagrams easily, Using any stored in the iPad’s photo library. This means you could use its built-in camera to shoot photos and then include them in your mind maps, useful in the classroom but I’m not sure how often it would be used in business applications. When you add an image, Inspiration Maps treats it as the topic shape, not as something you add to one. As with topic shapes, you can use a pinch gesture to resize images.

Brainstorming mode

One of my favorite features of Inspiration for PCs and Macs has always been its brainstorming mode, which lets you quickly add a series of ideas to your map, using only the keyboard and the Enter key. I’m pleased to see that the developer has included it in this iPad version, complete with the distinctive lightning bolt icon.

When you tap on the lightning bolt to enter brainstorming mode, a cloud appears over your map’s central topic (see the screen shot) and the virtual keyboard pops up. The “return” key changes into a “next” key, encouraging you to enter another idea. Each time you type and tap the “next” key, Inspiration Maps adds a new topic with the text you just typed. In this mode, the app doesn’t give you control over topic placement. It just creates room for each topic and places it on the screen. It’s up to you to arrange them the way you want after your brainstorming session.

In short, this operating mode is a very efficient way to add content to your maps quickly. I enjoyed working with it. I can easily see a business executive or a teacher, with their iPad connected to a projector, soliciting ideas from the people in the room, and then adding them quickly to the map on their iPad.

Outline view

Of course, Inspiration Maps has an outline view, just like its big brother on the desktop. This app displays a hierarchical view of your map against a tan looseleaf paper background. The layout is Spartan, but very functional. The left side of the screen displays arrow icons that can be used to expand and collapse the levels of your outline. If any topics have notes, the “filled thought balloon” icon is displayed to the left of the topic text.

When you tap on a topic to select it in outline view, a control bar pops up that enables you to indent or outdent it one level. A plus icon enables you to quickly add a new topic at the same level of your outline. And a globe icon enables you to navigate any hypertext links in your topics. Tapping on a link opens the iPad’s Safari browser and takes you to that URL.

On the far right of the workspace is a drag icon that enables you to move topics up and down the outline. This design is very smart, because it actually prevents you from accidentally dragging an outline topic to a different location in the outline.

Exporting

Inspiration Maps gives you a number of options for sharing your maps:

• You can send them via e-mail
• Save them as images to your photos folder
• You can print them, using the iPad’s AirPrint capability
• You can store and share your maps on Dropbox and iTunes

If you’re outlining a writing project (a common application for Inspiration in schools), you can export your map or outline to word processing apps, such as Pages. On my iPad, iA Writer, DocstoGo and iThoughtsHD also showed up on the export menu.

The one thing Inspiration Maps doesn’t do right now is produce a file format that the desktop version of Inspiration can open and edit. I tried this with a map I created on my iPad. After exporting it to my Dropbox account, tried to open it with Inspiration 9 on my PC, but it gave me an error message.

This isn’t surprising, considering that Inspiration 9 was developed prior to the iPad version. Presumably, the desktop version of the program would need to be compatible with the output of the iPad app, so it can properly interpret its file format and ignore any unsupported features. Perhaps in Inspiration 10? I’m not sure if this would be a priority for the developer, considering that they are completely focused on the education market.

Conclusion

This is a very attractive, easy to use mind mapping and outlining app. As one of the pioners in the mind mapping space, I’ve always had the deepest respect for Inspiration Software. So I Was very excited when I heard that they were working on an iPad app. It’s perfectly designed for the education market, but is perhaps a bit too light weight for business applications – especially considering that in most cases, you’re going to want to create a map on your iPad and then utilize its content in other software, such as a Word document or PowerPoint presentation.

Still, Inspiration Maps is an impressive debut. I can’t wait to see what the developer does with it in the coming months and years. It should be great.

The app is available in two versions: Inspiration Maps Lite is free, but limits you to creating only 5 mind maps and doesn’t support file sharing with other apps or online file storage services. The full version costs US$14.99. Both versions are available in the Apple AppStore.

SWOT, a popular business planning technique, can also be a powerful tool for identifying ways in which you can add value to your work and life. And one of the best ways to do this type of exploration is with a mind map.

In this new Mind Mapping Insider report, I provide members with brief instructions on how to utilize this thinking technique and how to mind map the results. I also provide links to a mind map containing 80 questions that you can use to analyze your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) in your work and life – in 6 popular formats:

• MindManager
• MindGenius
• NovaMind
• XMind
• OpenMind
• iMindMap

Members-only resource

This link to this report is only visible to members of the Mind Mapping Insider membership program. It contains a wealth of resources that can help you to be more productive, creative and have a greater impact in your life.

New reports and resources are being added to the Insider area every week. If you’re serious about becoming a mind mapper, why not check out the Mind Mapping Insider program today?