Mind Mapping, Application Design, and Stuff

Posted on April 14th, 2006 mitch  Print 3 comments

I have become interested in a technique called Mind Mapping to help me flesh out some overall design and feature questions and issues on some of the projects that I am working on.

Mind mapping (or concept mapping) involves writing down a central idea and thinking up new and related ideas which radiate out from the centre. By focussing on key ideas written down in your own words, and then looking for branches out and connections between the ideas, you are mapping knowledge in a manner which will help you understand and remember new information.

So from my reading on the matter, and I think I have this right (if not, someone correct me): It seems that your brain stores things in a hierarchical manner while most of us work in a linear (straight line) world.  Creating a plan visually helps your mind visualize the end product or the goal. Combining the visualization with a mind map, instead of just a to-do list, feature list, etc., allows the brain to more quickly assimilate the information.

Tony Buzan (creator of Mind Mapping) claims that the mind map is a vastly superior note taking method because it does not lead to the alleged "semi-hypnotic trance" state induced by the other note forms. Buzan also claims that the mind map utilizes the full range of left and right human cortical skills, balances the brain, taps into the 99% of your unused mental potential, and taps into your intuition (which he calls "superlogic"). There has been research conducted on the technique which suggests that such claims may actually be marketing hype based on misconceptions about the brain and the cerebral hemispheres.

Now I don't know about all of that, but it seemed like a pretty neat concept to me and a lot of people seem to use the technique.

There are several commercial and free tools that will help you generate mind maps.  Since I have Microsoft Office loaded, I used the Visio 2003 template called "Brainstorming" that allowed me to create a mind map in fairly short order.

I'll keep you informed of my experiences with the Mind Mapping technique and if anyone has anything to share on the subject, leave a comment.

References:

Why I want a Tablet PC

MindManager  

JCU Study Skills Online

Answers.com: Mind Map

Mind Maps® are the registered trade mark of the Buzan Organisation.

Development, Misc

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