In my personal experience of the last 12 months has been that this type of product across the board has actually declined in relation to sales. Google trends indicates a decline on web volume for these “Mind Mapping” products meaning they are receiving less web coverage in the last 5 years than previously.

So has Mind Mapping gone mainstream? Definitely not in my opinion and it probably never will.

Be interested in other views on the last 12 months.

But in spite of these developments, I still believe that the tipping point is probably at least a year away, because we are not yet seeing significant increases in searches for Mind Mapping software in Google, as would be expected if it was about to reach a tipping point. If you don’t believe me, look at the results in Google Trends: http://www.google.com/trends?q=mind+map&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0 – there has been no statistically significant change since 2004.

I believe that many of the issues that people raise above will be addressed in the next year, but at the same time, I believe that the “featureitis” is distracting people from addressing the core issues that would really make Mind Maps do exactly what you want and expect. I see that Mind Manager has done a pretty good job in the “business mapping” segment, and iMindMap has done a reasonable job with the “back to core Mind Mapping” end of the market, and NovaMind has done a pretty good job of taking the power of Mind Manager and the flexibility of iMindMap, and combining it into a good program, but *all* of these programs have their shortfalls and could do with significant updates. At the moment, my pick would be NovaMind because of the combination of power and flexibility, excellent customer support, and ongoing innovation, but who knows what the landscape will look at in 6 months time?

Wonderful discussion. Great to read the thoughts of other mindmapping bloggers.

It is my position that Mindmapping will gain more traction in the business community as business executives see and understand how it solves business problems. I think Mindjet, creator of MindManager 8, is doing a pretty good job of that in marketing to business roles, rather than simply focusing on software features (see mindjet.com). Ultimately, for business people it is not about the software features, it is about how the tool helps them solve problems.

I currently work for a $4.8 Billion company operating in 35 countries who has the challenge of streamlining their IT, Finance and HR processes and systems. Seeing that this challenge requires the coordination and management of vast amounts of information, I approached one of the Vice Presidents and asked her about some of the immediate problems she was facing. She informed me that one of the first tasks for the project was developing the three-year transformational objectives, annual objectives and tactical goals, and top level improvement priorities. I suggested we use MindManager 8 to organize the thoughts of the Project Leads in a brainstorming session.

So, instead of using a flip chart with markers, we used MindManager 8 with a laptop and LCD projector. All of the VPs in the room never heard of MindManager 8. But when they saw me capturing their ideas, grouping them into main topics and multiple sub-topics, and then sorting and re-sorting them real-time via the LCD projector – they didn’t care what the tool was called. They only cared that it was getting the job done. And getting it done in a way they had never seen before. In fact, one executive pointed out during the session, “This is far better than flip charts and markers. This is a pretty amazing tool. It’s capturing everything and allowing us to refine it. Great tool.” It was only after this statement did he ask, “What is this tool?” I told him, “MindManager 8 created by a company called Mindjet.”

At the end of the session they asked me if I could e-mail them an outline of everything that was discussed during the session. I told them no problem. As all of you know, who use MindManager 8, it is simply a matter of clicking a button to turn the mindmap into a detailed Word outline. It was a full-day session so the outline was literally 14 pages. Not only did I provide them with a very detailed outline with roman numerals and letters, but also a picture of the mindmap at the top of the outline. And because I had my laptop connected to our network, I e-mailed it to them before we left the room.

All of the VPs now see MindManager 8 as a key component of how project meetings should be conducted – and I’ve already been asked to help another group within the company (via VP’s word of mouth). So, mindmapping software usage will increase as we appropriately align it to solving specific business problems.

Notice in my example I did not approach these VPs with showcasing all the features of MindManager 8, because as most of you know, it can do a lot more than brainstorming, aligning ideas, and creating a Word outline. But it is not about showcasing the features, it is about solving business problems. If they, for example, needed to distribute the map to people who did not own the software, I would have suggested using the PDF flash file and sending it to everyone. But that was not the request. They wanted an outline. For this portion of the project, that was the business need. I think business needs should be first, the tools features and functionality should be second. Without knowing the business need you really can’t leverage the tool most effectively. So, that’s where it needs to start. – Chance

Here’s some more of my blathering to consider:
As having direct involvement within the development of information management products and as co founder of Visualmapper consultancy, I believe I can speak from the developer’s angle too.

I would say most developers have created excellent visual mapping products to enable data, process, information, knowledge and system improvement. Most of the products available to date have quite literally changed the way many within academia and businesses create, manage and exchange information.

If developers are using the term mind mapping, it begs the question; are you in the mind mapping business or the information management business?

Donald Maciver, the General Manager of Mind Genius based in Scotland is quoted as saying; “For mapping to go mainstream it requires a significant change in human behaviour”.

Agreeing with Donald’s quote, I would suggest a potential approach to enable Visual mapping to experience a mainstream infusion.

During mid 2008, I suggested to my fellow colleagues Arjen Ter Hoeve (Netherlands), Patrick Baker (New Zealand) and Brian Friedlander (USA) of a potential format for taking Visual mapping mainstream.
A free Visual mapping Body of Knowledge (VMBOK) may best serve this purpose. From within a body of knowledge, academic content and relevant knowledge could be extrapolated and compiled for potential future academic use.

So where do the developers fit into this? I believe the developers are integral to the development, and continuous improvement of such a BOK. This is where your organizational contributions to these endeavours can be preserved and realized. It is thus enabling you to continue to develop software with the confidence that a VMBOK delivers a knowledge base of the tools and techniques of visual mapping that represent your agendas.
Visual mapping includes but is not limited to Mind mapping, concept mapping, flow charting, argument mapping and much more, therefore we all have relevancy within a VMBOK.

My colleagues have already taken the initial steps of working together to establish the foundations of a VMBOK and would be extremely interested in your input and feedback regarding this initiative. Your contribution and support, so please connect with us at: info@visualmapper.org
MAINSTREAM CAN HAPPEN IF WE MAKE IT SO.

I saw one of Kelley’s hand drawn maps in a Business Week article a few years back. I wonder if it is the same one. Thanks for the heads-up.

P.S. Your golf maps are still some of my favorites. I’ve even had participants request copies of your maps!