Contextualized knowledge mapping on steroids. Google just acquired MetaWeb, and this inclusion may just make Google the unbeatable 900 lb gorilla of search engines.

The implications are numerous, but I see a more contextual search within the web; based on generalizations that are attached to contextualized entities.

An ingenious idea indeed. We see this approach in Knowledge management products such as TopicScape and The Personal Brain that use relational data bases.

This is also a rather good model for Mind-Visual mapping practices. What do you think?

Wallace Tait: Visualmapper

Mindjet MindManager Emerges as Must-Have Software for Business Professionals

MindManager empowers business professionals to better capture, organize and communicate ideas, information and projects for business success

San Francisco – July 13, 2010 – Mindjet®, the leading provider of software and cloud-based applications for visually organizing and managing information and ideas, today announced the latest version of the company’s flagship software – Mindjet MindManager Version 9.  Used by millions of business professionals, MindManager delivers an inherently unique value to today’s workers – a flexible, intuitive way to visually brainstorm concepts, organize information, develop actionable strategies and project plans, and communicate results.

On a daily basis, business professionals combat masses of information coming from multiple sources – web, email, documents and meetings – with no means to connect the dots and see the big picture.  MindManager provides the destination that unifies diverse information allowing users to organize, act on and communicate their ideas and strategies.  With its enhanced integration with Microsoft® Office and fluid, drag-and-drop interface, this latest release cements MindManager as the go-to software for business professionals to quickly capture, organize and reorganize information to discover new avenues of thought and new solutions – and then put those solutions immediately into action and stay ahead of the competition.

“By organizing information visually, MindManager fits the way I work and serves as a destination for me to be more productive and effective,” says Corey Sherman, Principal at Sullivan, Cotter and Associates, Inc.  “If you can think, MindManager can help you work better.  And with an ever-expanding list of features and functionality, the new MindManager Version 9 solution has more ‘ooomph’ than ever!”

MindManager provides an intuitive visual framework for individuals and teams to capture information, analyze complex relationships and identify priorities.  Taking advantage of MindManager’s tight integration with Microsoft Outlook, Office, Project and SharePoint, Mindjet is helping users to accomplish more, ensure project success and improve communication by organizing and presenting information in a visual context.  In one clear, easily modified visual “map,” information from group thinking and the web can be combined with existing documents, files, meeting notes and emails.  This visual, flexible presentation of information improves business planning and fosters better collaboration among teams.

A main feature of MindManager is data import and integration with Microsoft Outlook, Office, Project and SharePoint, which enables users to take advantage of MindManager in the context of typical workflows. MindManager version 9 for Windows integrates with Microsoft Office 2010.

“Throughout history, a key leading factor in economic growth and wealth creation has centered around productivity and creativity to drive innovation,” said Scott Raskin, CEO of Mindjet.  “Our goal with MindManager Version 9 is to dramatically improve an organization’s creativity, project planning, performance and innovation.  Whether overloaded with information, solving a problem, working with a team on an important project, or wanting to communicate more effectively, MindManager Version 9 is simply a must–have.”

Key Features in MindManager version 9 for Windows:

• MindManager Slide Show – Enables users to create and present a series of slides based off map, tree and organizational chart layouts helping to align and organize information, ideas and strategies to be more productive.

• Microsoft Outlook Integration – Features more powerful integration with Microsoft Outlook tasks, emails, notes, calendar items and contacts and enables individuals to easily assign priorities, filter on priority, and drag and drop content for better organization.  Dynamic branches of Outlook tasks can be added to maps and visualized in MindManager’s integrated Gantt chart.

• Microsoft PowerPoint Integration – Users can now easily export content from MindManager into PowerPoint slides to accomplish more, faster.
• Microsoft Project Integration – Improved integration allows for exporting of plans created within MindManager as Microsoft Project files.
• Resource Utilization – To help ensure your plan’s success, users can better understand which resources are over or underutilized.

• Gantt Chart View– Individuals can view task and project plan timelines in MindManager’s integrated and synchronized Gantt chart. Updates can be made to maps by adjusting the Gantt chart or by making changes directly into a map.

MindManager version 9 for Windows will be generally available on August 10 in three languages: English, German and French, and can be purchased through Mindjet.com for $349.

Supporting Resources

• Hear what individuals and organizations have to say about Mindjet
• Follow Mindjet on Twitter to learn more: http://twitter.com/Mindjet
• Learn more about Mindjet on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mindjet
• See the post on MindManager version 9 announcement on our Dutch Chapter site.

The ugly truth about visual mapping and list-making

Power Markers for MindManager solves the incompatibility between maps and lists

In recent years “Mind Mapping” software has expanded rapidly into productivity management and information management, with most products offering some form of graphical labelling and task management capabilities ranging from simple icons through to fully featured Gantt charts. But the tree-shaped diagrams created by mind mapping software are poorly adapted to handling these extra layers of information hung on the topics. How does this problem arise, and how can we solve it?

Let’s go right back to basics.

The parent topic sets the context for subtopics

A topic in a map has a number of “properties” that combine together to represent something meaningful. Its primary “property” is the parent topic to which it belongs. This sets the context, which delivers the majority of the meaning in a map. It is the visualisation and manipulation of context that sets visual mapping apart from most other ways of conveying information, and adds substantial value.

The second most important property is the topic text itself. When combined with the context of its parent, the topic becomes something meaningful that can be understood, explored, expanded upon or examined as part of a pattern. (I’m not going to debate the “one word” rule for mind maps here.)

So far, so good – this is standard mind map visualisation. But with the advent of mind mapping software, we can also hang lots of other information (or properties) to our humble topic, for example

• converting it into a full-specified task, with a percent complete value, a priority, a duration, a start date and a due date,
• adding extra tagging information such as keywords or task resources,
• adding extra text (Topic Notes),
• adding named visual markers (icons),
• adding images,
• adding text or fill colours, boundaries or shapes, or
• adding a hyperlink or an attached document.

A topic with too much information assigned to it

These properties enrich the topic and tell us more about it. Further, using the same marker on several topics creates a grouping across the map, so that the presence of a marker tells us that the topic also belongs to other groups, e.g. “Priority 1 items” or “Finance Department items”. The advantage of these properties is that you can apply several of them to the same topic; a topic can belong to multiple groups at the same time. Compare this to the primary property of context (the parent topic); a topic can have one and only one parent, unless it is the central topic, which does not have a parent. Topics cannot have multiple parents – after all, this is what makes a tree a tree. So it is very handy to have so many ways for a topic to be a member of other cross-tree groupings as well.

This is where mind mapping software starts to cough and splutter. The primary property, context, is very well supported. We can surf around maps, drill down into trees, expand or collapse detail as we wish, visualise patterns, summarise things and literally change the meaning of a map simply by moving topics around. We can visually “understand” the relationships in a map through the lines that connect topics together. We can play around with contexts, reinforce our knowledge and create new insights. Mind mapping software offers a rich and rewarding set of controls for working with the context property. But the picture is very different when it comes to understanding our map in terms of its other properties, indicated by icons or other markers. Typically, there are only a couple of options:

• We can look at the map and visually recognise markers, with reference to a legend to explain them if necessary (and if available).
• The software can help us to look in a more focused way by filtering out the parts of the map that don’t carry the markers we are interested in (unless they are in the path to the central topic). This removes the context surrounding the topics of interest, making them easier to spot.

In both cases, we need to change our mindset to stop looking at the map as a whole, and try to see it as a list – but the list only exists in our minds. Whichever way you slice it and dice it, the information in our map is still a tree, dominated by the context property. It relies on our concentration and visual diligence to ensure that we don’t overlook something important. But take care – there are many ways that a topic can be out of view; it might be outside the visible area, or filtered out, or folded up in a collapsed tree. There is no safety net.

That’s easily solved, I hear you say. All you need to do is make lists in your map – a section for things to do today, a section for critical information, a section for open questions and so on. This works perfectly if you can devise a way to organise your stuff so that each item clearly belongs in only one place. Remember that a topic can have one and only one parent. This is fine for natural hierarchies, such as a breakdown of countries, counties, towns and districts. But the majority of the real world is not as nicely organised as this. Most of the things we deal with belong on more than one list at the same time. If I have promised to finish a report for my boss by next Friday, which list does it go on? The list of actions? The list of commitments to other people? The list of things to do by next Friday? The list of things connected with my boss? The list of reports to write? How about all of the above? If you are constructing lists within a map, this last option is not a practical one unless you are patient enough to create the same topic in five different places – and the novelty of doing that will vanish the first time you get it wrong.

The conclusion is that visual maps are perfect for the big picture, and for making sense of information by organising it, summarising it, surfing it and manipulating it. But visual maps become much less ergonomic if you want to keep track of the detailed properties of topics. Lists are far better for taking action and quickly assessing what needs to be done. So how do we get reliable lists out of our maps, without compromising the structure of the map itself?

If you haven’t already guessed, this is what Power Markers for MindManager does. Power Markers is an extension for MindManager for Windows that adds a “Hot Lists” task pane, and automatically extracts lists from your maps. So you get not one but two views of the information in your map; the visual map for the big picture and navigation by context, and the cross-tree groupings that exist within your map, based on the map markers that you have used. These lists group and sort topics by every property except context – colour, task status, icons and so on. Because this is a set of lists, rather than a tree of topics, it is normal for the same topic to appear on more than one list at the same time – so your “Write report” item is simultaneously shown on five lists, and you can find it by reviewing any one of them. When it is completed and checked off, it disappears off all five lists again.

A dashboard map with dynamic status indication

Hot Lists of topics, generated by Power Markers

Power Markers can do a lot else besides. It can “roll up” important information to the centre of your map, greatly reducing the risk that you might overlook something vital. You can also design your map marker groups in the map itself, and make their definitions a richer part of your map. Power Markers Standard Edition will create up to 15 lists per map, and does not require a license key.

If you use MindManager to organise information or keep track of activities, Power Markers will help you to get a lot more value out of your maps by being able to see them from two perspectives at the same time.

Resources

Power Markers demonstration map on BiggerPlate: www.biggerplate.com/viewmap.asp?id=904

Download Power Markers for MindManager 7 or 8 for Windows:  http://www.olympic-limited.co.uk/mindmanager-add-ins/power-markers/

Free white paper on designing Dashboard maps with MindManager: http://tinyurl.com/34mlzos

The Beyond Mind Mapping blog: www.beyond-mind-mapping.com

Copyright © Harport Consulting 2010. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve been developing, writing about and generally evangelizing about Crystal Mapping for a few years now. I’ve focused mainly on how it can be used in business to communicate organizational level vision and team objectives and how it can be used in education to help revision and learning. But one thing that consistently comes up in conversation, and one I’ve had in depth with Wallace Tait at visualmapper.org, is that people see crystal maps as a natural way of setting personal goals and creating their own life maps. With this in mind here’s my take on ‘life maps’ and ’self development maps’ using crystal mapping.

Below is an example of a Personal Dashboard created in crystal mapping

WANT TO VIEW AN INTERACTIVE EXAMPLE? CLICK HERE
Keep your eye on the left hand pane of the interactive map; this is where you’re offered a linear list of the contents of the interactive map!!!!

Among the many theories, teachings and techniques in the area of personal development there are two features which are common to all and critical to success:
• You have to know where you are going
• You have to know how you’re going to get there

The first point is pretty much a given in that it is vital that you know what you’re trying to achieve and where you want to get to. Otherwise how would you know if / when you’d arrived?

The second is a bit less clear cut because there are usually a number of ways you could get to the same point. However, the fact that you need a plan or a route to follow is not in doubt. All journeys need to be planned.

Just as you wouldn’t set out to climb Everest without knowing which route you were going to take, you wouldn’t (or shouldn’t at least) set out to achieve your life or career goals without a map.

Crystal Mapping helps you map your goals so you can see where you are going and how you’re going to get there.

We work on a simple process: Think it, Map it, See it, Do it

For most of us life is busy. We live at speed, grabbing coffee on the go, having a sandwich at our desk, making calls as we drive (hand’s free obviously). When we have ideas for things we’d like to do or changes we’d like to make we don’t write them down so we forget about them – sometimes for good. It’s important to think about what you want. So, go on think about it!

One of the problems people often find with all the different methods and techniques of self improvement and the vast library of literature that exists is how to remember the stuff which is relevant and how to bring it all together in a way that is personal to you. Well – the best way is to map it – so it’s crystal clear what you are trying to achieve!

Visualization is the key to success for most successful people and it takes place on two levels. On one level it is important to visualize our goals in our minds and to start to allow our subconscious mind to go to work on finding strategies to achieve them. Secondly you need see how you’re progressing. Your own crystal map personal dashboard lets you see it ; how you’re performing in achieving your life goals!

When you took a few moments to think about your goals you were doing nothing new. You probably didn’t need to think that hard before a few ideas at least popped into your head. That’s because these dreams have rattled around between your ears for quite a while. But now is the time to do something different. Just do it!

PRESS RELEASE

CS Odessa Announces Update to ConceptDraw MindWave, a No-Cost Mind Mapping Gadget for Google Wave

San Jose, California, June 2, 2010 – CS Odessa has released an updated version of its popular mind mapping tool, ConceptDraw MindWave for Google Wave. This is a no charge Google Wave add-in, which enables users to rapidly collaborate with any amount of people, from 2 to 2000.

ConceptDraw MindWave provides teams the opportunity to interactively collaborate on a mind map while building a map structure that represents the focus of collaboration. The mind map can then take full advantage of Google Wave playback, or be downloaded to one’s desktop for further development using ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

Improved Functionality of ConceptDraw MindWave2:

• Getting Started mind map on first launch to introduce new users to functionality.
• Horizontal scroll bar for more versatile navigation.
• Automatic hyper linking of URL topic text.
• Added help and privacy resources to gadget
• New shortcuts and many usability improvements

Olin Reams, General Manager for the Americas at CS Odessa, observes, “We demonstrated ConceptDraw MindWave, at the recent Google I/O Developers Conference. ConceptDraw MindWave was presented in the Sandbox and was a huge success.”

“Many of the developers and spectators in attendance were able to immediately see the great potential in being able to build and store a mind map whose access can be embedded anywhere HTML appropriate, such as a web page or enterprise portal. Participants are then free to discover and interact with the wave mind map, join the conversation, and add or edit information. The end result is a great collaborative productivity tool.”

ConceptDraw MindWave is a no cost gadget for Google Wave. To install ConceptDraw MindWave, please visit: http://www.conceptdraw.com/mindwave

ABOUT CS ODESSA

Founded in 1993, Computer Systems Odessa supplies cross-platform productivity tools and graphics technologies to professional and corporate users around the world. With headquarters in Odessa, Ukraine and an office in California, CS Odessa sells products internationally through resellers in over 25 countries. The ConceptDraw Productivity Line of products has won numerous awards and is used by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.

www.conceptdraw.com

Wow, yes WOW: After viewing some of the training videos and release media regarding NovaMind 5, and I have to say it again WOW.  And yes I use NovaMind 5 too.

Gideon King, the creator of NovaMind delivers an awesome and totally new framework for version 5. It delivers numerous new tools, methods and expands upon the mindset associated with NovaMind.

The information manager of this century now has a Mind mapping product in NovaMind 5 that is graphically sophisticated, extremely professional and effective to the nth degree.

I really do believe NovaMind 5 raises the bar for professional Mind mapping, and the many competing benchmarks in this arena are being eclipsed by this latest release.

NovaMind 5 covers personal productivity, academic enhancement and business uses at all levels of service, manufacturing and corporate.

If at all you’ve been a past user of NovaMind, you’ll notice a whole new UI, functions and capability for both platforms. The new and enhanced functions are numerous and this blog just won’t contain them all; so here’s a few of them from the Express, Pro and Platinum versions.

NovaMind Express Features:

Map Elements:

Create your mind map using a range of different shaped topics such as lines, rectangles and ovals. Use callouts to add extra information. Highlight and visually group topics using boundaries. Use floating topics to create separate mini mind maps. Attach free floating shapes, images and text

Media Library:

Make your mind maps look great by selecting from over 3000 high quality adornments and images right within NovaMind. The images are tagged with a large number of keywords making it easy to find what you are looking for. Take the media library with you and use it offline.

Advanced Layout Engine:

Focus on your ideas while NovaMind’s unique layout engine keeps your mind map compact and tidy. Fine tune the look of your mind map by using flexible topic orientation and advanced spacing options. You can also move any topic to exactly where you want it.

Intuitive & Easy to Use:

Forget distracting popup dialogs. With NovaMind you can use a familiar MS Office-like user interface to edit your mind map and see changes live. Keeps the flow of your ideas going while NovaMind takes care of the layout! Other applications add features upon features just to add another bullet point on their sales pages. We carefully design new features to provide a consistent look and feel.

Imports & Exports:

Conveniently import mind maps created in XMind and FreeMind. Import and export OPML and text files. More imports & exports are available in NovaMind Pro.

Hyperlinks:

Add multiple hyperlinks to your topics. Link to websites, files and folders.
NovaMind Pro & Platinum allow you to attach (embed) files.

Themes & Styles:

Create beautiful mind maps with ease. Experiment with different themes and try various color and font combinations.

Outline View:

Work with the Outline view and the Mind Map at the same time. Immediately see changes in both the outline view your Mind Map. Drag & drop topics within the outline view or even between the outline view and your Mind Map.

NovaMind Pro Features:

Multiple Mind Maps in a Document:

Create multiple mind maps in a single document to keep them conveniently together. Add, remove and reorder mind maps. Copy & paste mind maps between documents.

Advanced Imports & Exports:

Create your documents and presentations using NovaMind. Export to Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint. Import and export MindManager 7/8 mind maps.

Attachments:

Use NovaMind as your information hub. Attach as many files as you like to any topic. Attachments are automatically stored within the NovaMind file and can be opened from within NovaMind or extracted to become separate files.

Checkboxes:

Use NovaMind for your to do list. Add checkboxes to your topics. Automatically rollup checkbox states from sub-topics or use manual checkboxes. Get a full set of Project Management tools with NovaMind Platinum.

Plugins:

Extend the capability of NovaMind 5 by using Plugins. With NovaMind 5 we are introducing a new plugin system which allows developers to create new features and integrate their own products with NovaMind. We are already working with a number of partners on exciting Plugins.

NovaMind Platinum Features:

Project Management:

Manage your projects using NovaMind. Visualize (and print) task information such as priority, percentage complete, duration and start and end dates. Setup resources and assign them to tasks. Presenting and discussing your project using NovaMind will make it easy to understand at a glance. Access project reports and export the data to Excel. Import and Export Microsoft projects.

Presenter:

Get your message across clearly and concisely using the NovaMind Presenter. You will be able to glide over your Mind Maps and zoom into topics. Your audience will be able to easily understand the context and meaning of your presentation.
The NovaMind Presenter is currently in development. When you purchase your NovaMind Platinum license key, you will be eligible to receive the NovaMind Presenter as a free update when it is ready. As pioneers of presentation tools for Mind Mapping, we are completely redeveloping the NovaMind Presenter for NovaMind 5.

So there you have it, just a little taste of what you get with NovaMind 5. You’ve just got to grab a copy RIGHT NOW!!

Wallace Tait: Visualmapper

Hypershifters focuses on the use of visual mapping software. It addresses open source, freeware as well as commercial solutions.

The added value Hypershifters provides is in research, advice and consultancy for experienced and inexperienced users.

Many users have concerns about the possibilities of visual mapping in their work environment. This was reason for Hypershifters to create a test team that, co-advised by international experts in the field of visual mapping, critically reviews current products.   Not so much viewed from the intricacies of the software, but rather from its scope of applicability. Thereby think for example of doing some brainstorming, meeting management, project management and knowledge management.

The reviews are based on a matrix drafted by us to serve as a yardstick for the aforementioned scope of applicability. Besides the reviews you will also find the results in a comparison table.

iMindMap 4.1

Tony Buzan, who has been advocating mind mapping  since the late sixties, was and is not pleased with most software packages that claim to create mind maps. They do not conform to his image of a mind map – rich, organic shapes, full of color and graphics. Besides, the term “mind map” is registered to the Buzan organization, and thus protected.

After Chris Griffiths in 2003 decided to invest all his energy into developing a “true” Buzan software solution, the Buzan organization made a decision in 2006 to launch the mind map software developed by Chris. iMindMap 2 was released in 2007.

Indeed, with organic shapes, colors and keywords on the lines – a true mind map (however, it is the only form the branches can take). Meanwhile a vast online library of images has become available!

It was a bit of getting used to compared to the existing packages, but now you get Tony Buzan mind maps which also appeal to the right brain hemisphere.

Read the full testreport about ThinkBuzan iMindMap 4.1 Ultimate

Just completed reading Mark Wogan’s excellent publication named Crystal mapping; The BIGGER Picture. The book gave me quite a few “AHA” moments, but I want to focus on one that’s impacted me.

IT’S THE POWER OF 3

A really good case was made for limiting the foundation of how we may best initially create our Visual maps. The power of three refers to being confined to the core, first level and second information levels. And looking further at the structure of Crystal mapping, I agree with mark’s finding; here’s why.

Mark states; “the number three wasn’t selected based on any magic number theory, urban myth or mystical quality but on its practical real world ability to present information in a simple context”.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel the 19th-century philosopher put forward a three tiered evolution of thought from thesis to synthesis via antithesis in aid of the pursuit of logic. And in language and grammar; three elements are needed to form a simple proposition; a subject, a predicate and a copula.

Three keeps on popping up as if it is some kind of mystical adage of getting your point across. I even find myself using the three elements stated above to get my point across most of the time. I state the Visual mapping arena is made up of three arenas; personal, academic and business. I could also state the personal has 3 sub arenas of productivity, motivation and communication, and that academia has 3 sub arenas of school, college and university, and further define business to have 3 sub arenas of service, industry and corporate. OK, I’ve just blabbed on about 3, three, III; but it does feel so comfortable to restrict to three elements, and from that point onwards to express sub associations.

So, it does appear three seems to offer something, at least anecdotally, in support of qualities as a communication method.

7 (+ or – 2) is also thought of as being a magic number relating to communication based on George Miller’s work in his 1956 paper The Magical Number seven, plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information.

There has however been a great deal of misunderstanding of what was meant regarding the use of seven in communication. Many have taken 7 as the standard number of units for communicating anything.

7 points on a slide, 7 words to a line, 7 paragraphs on a page; using 7 in such a format seems to be taking things too far and doesn’t seem to be what Miller meant.

George Miller states 7 (+ or – 2) was a limit “for the discrimination of uni dimensional stimuli (pitches, loudness, brightness, etc.) and also a limit for immediate recall, none of which has anything to do with the capacity to comprehend printed text”. According to Edward Tufte a deeper meaning of Miller’s work is “to suggest strategies, such as placing information within a context that extend the reach of memory beyond tiny clumps of data” http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0000U6&topic_id=1

Using three is a convenient and practical strategy to assist simple context. Putting information in context answers the following questions
• What is the point being made?
• Why is it important?
• How does it relate to me?

Delivering information in such a way enables authors and recipients to create, manage and exchange information processes quickly and easily. By adopting such an approach; the creative processes enable a bigger picture.

Another unit of three in context asks who where, and when?
• Who is responsible for it?
• Where is it to be found?
• When will it be done?

Setting organizational targets we have another contextual threesome, where objectives are communicated relating to responsibilities such as:
• What is my target?
• How does this fit in with my immediate superior’s target?
• How does this fit in with my immediate subordinate’s target?

By managing information within a simple power of 3 contexts; instant understanding is captured.

The power of 3 is experienced in and through using Crystal Mapping. It works by limiting information display to three levels within the visual workspace, presenting information initially within the simplest of contexts. Understanding is further built upon, by continuing to add more levels, while retaining the graphical display of information within units of three.

It is essential to make sure that wherever you are in the organization structure, you and your team are aware of the organizational objectives. To grasp the bigger picture context you need to see how objectives fit into the overall organizational structure.

Crystal Mapping always starts with the purpose at the core or centre of the map it is easy to always see how your ‘piece of the pie’ fits in with overall information objectives.

Mark Wogan believes the best way to achieve success is to make sure everyone understands the overriding mission or plan and then to let them get on with it. The Crystal mapping power of three structures enables clarity, concept in an unambiguous visual format.

So; I encourage you to grab your copy of Mark Wogan’s publication and experience your very own AHA moments. The product is developing at an agile rate, and it’s certainly going to evolve into a very formidable information management app for the forward thinking Information manager.

Here’s a youtube video of getting started with Crystal Mapping:

Wallace Tait: Visualmapper
www.visualmapper.org

SimTech

MindMapper Collaboration

During this morning’s session Patrick hosted the session and sent me an invitation via an email. Once I clicked on the Join Session button, my instance of MindMapper 2009 opened and I was able to work on the mind map with Patrick as if it was on my computer. MindMapper Collaboration was very fast when I was entering information into the map and it was hard for me to believe that I wasn’t working on the map from my standalone application. All of the features that I have in the desktop version are there and now when I am collaborating, within MindMapper Collaboration, I have access to a Chat and Polling feature. Unlike some other collaborative tools you can invite MindMapper 2009 users and non-users to your session which is a big plus. There is no need for your client to have access to MindMapper 2009 in order to participate in the session. At this time users will need to use Internet Explorer to access the session. Using MindMapper Collaboration, hosts can schedule and set up meetings ahead of time that are sent to the collaborators via an email. For individuals who participate in the meeting who don’t have access to MindMapper 2009 there is a small application that will need to be downloaded in order to participate. Once the application is downloaded, guests will have all of the functionality as that of an individual who has a standalone version of MindMapper 2009. During the next couple of weeks I will have some time to test MindMapper 2009 on my own and will give you my impressions. The trend is clear- more users want to be able to use their mind mapping tools to collaborate and all of the publishers are listening and chart a course to make this happen. For more information about MindMapper Collaboration click here.

Last week I downloaded MindGenius 3.5 which added support for Gantt Charts right within the application. I have had the chance to develop some Gantt Charts using MindGenius and wanted to share my ideas about this new feature with you. Overall, you will find the implementation of Gantt Charts in MindGenius 3.5 to be easy and straight forward to use. Most of us who have been following the mind mapping arena have seen that almost all of the major applications have moved to including Gantt Charts as part of their solution. Mind mapping applications are a great tool for brainstorming and sharing information about new projects that are coming on-board. The visualization of the project makes it easy for everyone involved to see the project from another perspective by literally putting everyone on the same page. Likewise, mind mapping applications like MindGenius 3.5 makes it easy for the team, when you are ready to develop the Work Breakdown Structure.

In MindGenius you would build your project in the mind mapping view and then click on the Tasks Tab on the Ribbon to access the features associated with the Gantt Chart. You will find it easy to assign Start, End, and Due Dates for each task in your mind map by selecting them from the Calendar. You can also record what percentage of the task is complete, the priority for the task as well as the status for each of the tasks. You can also record the duration of the work completed and estimates for the how long the task will take to complete. If you intend to use your mind map to track your costs you can include a Cost and Quantity for each item in your mind map. If you decide to include the Cost and Quantity in your mind map you can then export and generate reports in Excel. Once you have entered Start and End dates and the other information you can view your Gantt Chart by clicking on the Gantt View Button from the Tasks Ribbon.

MindGenius displays a very traditional Gantt Chart with with your tasks listed down the left side of the page. If a task has multiple items associated with it, MindGenius treats the higher level task as a Summary Level task and each item under that a child task. Tasks and subtasks can be linked using the Linking tool that is provided. As far as I can tell MindGenius 3.5 only supports Finish to Start Dependencies and does not allow for lag time. The Gantt Chart is MindGenius 3.5 clearly shows what percentage of the task is complete and can be manually changed by the user as they update the progress of the project. I would have like to be able to change the color of the bars in my Gantt view but I did not see this as an option. Assigning resources to a task is rather easy in MindGenius 3.5 you simply select the person from the Resources pane. One of the strengths MindGenius 3.5 is the ability to quickly generate a Resource map by Tasks with a click of the mouse. This helps to quickly visualize who has which task assigned to them and the responsibility for the completion of the task.

Probably one of the most powerful features that is found in MindGenius 3.5 is the ability to filter the information in the Gantt Chart. There are some Quick Filters that let you quickly see the status of your project when you select one of the filters. If you find that the Quick Filter does not meet your needs you can open up the Filter panel and begin to customize it for your needs. There is also a Filter Builder for building more sophisticated filters if you need it.

All in all, if you have MindGeniu3 you should download the free upgrade to MindGenius 3.5 and begin to explore the Gantt View. For small projects MindGenius 3.5 could be just what you need to keep tabs on your projects. If you need to, you can quickly generate reports from within Excel or export you projects to Microsoft Project. Having access to the Gantt View is certainly a welcome addition to MindGenius 3.5 and one that users will find considerable value in using.