MindManager Pro 6 from Mindjet

Citation

Pitta, D.A. (2006), "MindManager Pro 6 from Mindjet", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 23 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.2006.07723dab.002

MindManager Pro 6 from Mindjet

In this issue we look at a tool of proven value in the quest for creativity as well as effectiveness. The mind mapping technique can uncover missing pieces in planning as well as unimagined connections that may spell the difference between success and failure. The mapping process was once rudimentary and ad hoc. It was also fraught with potential omissions. When MindManager came on the scene, it supplied a framework to organize and exploit conceptual connections and received considerable attention. MindManager Pro 6 is the latest offering from Mindjet.

MindManager Pro 6 from MindjetMichael V. Laric

Mindjet ®MindManager® Pro 6 is the leading program in a new category of productivity applications that use visual “mind mapping” to sort and organize ideas, capture the essence of meetings, and help in collaborative discussions and information sharing. MindManager’s mapping abilities help individuals, groups or entire organizations visualize and communicate information. The maps help users develop ideas faster while at the same time facilitating better understanding of complex issues and relationships.

The process of creating maps in groups fosters the generation of new ideas and the development and identification of future courses of action. Meeting organizers can easily develop agenda maps and the use the maps in meetings to first capture brainstorming around those agenda items. The team can then create detailed tasks and appointments to put those ideas immediately into action. The interactive nature of map-making also enables educators, for example, to first prepare lecture notes and then incorporate student comments during the lecture itself. The educator can then share the map with the students afterwards to provide them with better and more comprehensive notes. Map information can be shared across the organization using the desktop application itself or by means of free MindManager viewers (either Windows or Internet Explorer-based). By communicating complex information using this visual interface, companies can increase productivity, enhance strategic thinking and improve project and process management.

Mindjet Corporation continues to develop new capabilities as it publishes new versions of MindManager (now in its eighth version of a program originally offered in 1994). The current version includes more than 100 new and improved features. It is available in both a professional (MindManager Pro 6) and a basic version (MindManager Basic 6). MindManager Pro 6 includes all of the program’s advanced functionality including new integration with Microsoft Excel and Visio. The basic version (not reviewed) is available for a lesser price.

A measure of the company’s confidence in the product’s quality is its offers to users to try the product for 21 days without paying for it upfront. Anyone can try MindManager this free trial version which is available for download from the Mindjet web site (www.Mindjet.com/us/). More important, if you have an earlier version of the product, the new version can be installed with the earlier one. The newer version installs itself alongside the earlier version so that you can compare both and choose the version you prefer. Users of both versions will probably decide to upgrade after they experience the new features. So if you are an existing user, there is no need to fear the trial version: it will not harm your existing maps or program. Such friendly features of MindManager have helped propel it to the “top of the charts” in this software category. Reviews of other mapping software compare them to this standard bearer, against which the others are compared.

The new MindManager Pro 6 has many new features. The ones that impressed us the most include the ability to display Microsoft Excel spreadsheets in MindManager maps. By simply selecting a data range in Excel and embedding it in the map, you can now view spreadsheet date inside MindManager. Another feature is the new editable Outline View, which allows you to easily view and edit maps in outline format (think of PowerPoint’s ability to do this). Any text and image changes you make in the Outline View are immediately updated, reflected and shown in the Map View. An improved “export” to Microsoft PowerPoint quickly previews slides in MindManager before exporting to Microsoft PowerPoint, saving you a few steps back and forth.

A new Topic Alert allows reminders (think of Microsoft Outlook’s reminders). When a given task has a date associated with it, MindManager’s Topic Alert synchronizes with your Microsoft Outlook Calendar and enables you to stay current on topic due dates. When the appointed time arrives, a window pops open on the top level of your computer screen asking if you want to open the map in which the Topic Alert resides. This enables you to immediately see the context in which the alert was created.

The new Insert Attachments now lets you attach copies of multiple files to a topic. In previous versions, you could only hyperlink to a single document. The attached files become part of your map so that they are never misplaced.

New and improved formatting options are available, such as the ability to instantly create a map in which the topics are visually balanced.

We have used free trial versions of MindManager for some time, when assisting students and entrepreneurs develop their outlines for papers, to-do lists, and project management timelines. It is far easier to use to manage a project using the map interface than having to learn “project management software.” We would download the trial version of MindManager map programs and after a few short minutes of demonstrating the product to the students or the entrepreneurs, they could take over and continue the planning process We have also used MindManager for writing lectures and research papers, administrative tasks, planning of research projects and management of the various projects. In our experience, use of MM can become addictive.

Students and other users who do not actually own the software can take advantage of the MindManager free Viewers. Whether used inside the Windows environment of via Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater, the Viewers enable users toto view, navigate, print, send and search MindManager maps. With the free Viewer users can navigate the maps by expanding and contracting topics, zooming in and out, and searching for specific words or icons. If here are hyperlinks to other related content (e-mails, word documents, or spreadsheets) the user can follow the links.

MindManager Pro 6 is easy to learn and smoothly integrates information from Microsoft Office products. Its integration with Outlook is perfect for project management of any size and scale. The timeline from the to-do list mentioned in the earlier example was exported first to Outlook and then to Microsoft Project to aid in managing the details. Maps can be exported to or have attachments from any other Microsoft Office programs. It is easy to share information using Office programs, but just as easy to share that information using MindManager. Most people usually understand the visual maps intuitively. It often helps bridge the gap between left and right brain-oriented collaborators.

The above procedures can be used to managing tasks and to-do lists. I have used MindManager Pro 6 to try to create a topic for each facet of my life. Each of us has work and home responsibilities, and MindManager is ready to help you put all your obligations in one map using, for example two main topics: home and work. Alternatively, you could have two maps – one for each area – and link them together. At work you might have projects, meetings, budgets, supervisors and others who report to you. Each of these can become a topic in a map created for your work to-do lists. A separate map called “Home” could have topics for family members, house maintenance needs, vacations, social commitments, hobbies and so on.

With MindManager, writing a research paper, an outline, or a report does not require writing out a list. You begin by entering one main idea in the middle of the screen where it says Central Topic. The topic is highlighted in blue, to indicate that the topic is in EDIT mode. Typing in the name of the map (“Mike’s To-Do List”) followed by the “Enter” key closes the “Edit” mode. Next you use the “Insert” key to add what is called a Main Topic. Again give it a name (“Work”) and follow with “Enter”. Having related ideas radiate out like spokes on a wheel makes the process intuitive. You can add another Main Topic for “Home.” The number of Main Topics depends on the user’s needs. While the program automatically adds topics clockwise around the Central Topic, users can drag and drop the topics as desired. A new MindManager Pro 6b automatically arranges topics so that an equal number appear to the right and left of the central topic.

The program offers several design elements in terms of how the topics are displayed. They can be displayed as radiating from the Central Topic, or as pointing to one direction forming a decision tree with the main idea at the far left or right. The rest become subtopics of that Main Topic. Using the example we are following, “Home” is on the right and “Work” is on the left of the Central Topic.

Each subtopic can have its own connections and further subtopics. For the “Work” topic we chose three subtopics: “Teaching” “Research” and “Service.” Each of these subtopics can have its own subtopics that can, as well, be linked to other relevant material e-mails, web pages, Word documents, or Excel spreadsheets. Thus under “Research,” each of several research projects might have, for example, links to an outline (Word document) of an article, or to a project timeline for data collection required for another paper.

You use the “Insert” key to add subtopics. To add a second subtopic to a main branch, hit “Enter” and then type in the name of that subtopic. Use the “Enter” key once more to close the “Edit” mode, then once again to open a new subtopic at the same level. If you change your mind at some point and wish to add another subtopic, simply go back to the main topic and use “Enter” again. You might label this one “Community” for your volunteer activities. Simply follow the procedure for adding subtopics.

Being visually oriented, I have found MindManager’s visual indicators to be very helpful. As with Microsoft Outlook 2003, which uses colors and markers for e-mails, MindManager has the ability to use a wide variety of visual cues. There are Map Markers that can be applied to ideas in the map. The “Task Completion Marker” which lets you specify whether a task is just starting, in progress (as in 25 percent, 500 percent, and 75 percent) or completed. A “Task Priority Marker” shows a 1 through 5 rating for the priority of a given task or action item. And there are color flags, which can call attention to specific items. Entire topics and their subtopics can be captured using a wide range of colors.

A new Power Filter feature enables you to then choose to see only those topics and/or subtopics to which these visual cues have been attached. Thus I can dedicate one color to vacations, another to maintenance issues, and others to different aspects of my work life. If, for example, I name the Red Flag icon “Bills Due,” the Power Filter enables me to hide all the other information and see only these red-flagged elements that need immediate attention. Using the filter, MindManager can display tasks and ideas with a certain marker as well (all “Priority 1 Tasks” or all “In Progress” ones.). When summoned, MindManager’s Power Filter will immediately reveal (or hide) all ideas and tasks containing a given icon. There are many more markers to choose from: flags (many colors), smilies, arrows, fill colors, text colors, and others. Mindjet has provided a colorful and yet informative array of options and images to facilitate information capture and organization – and quick decision-making.

Meanwhile, a new search tool enables you search for words or phrases find information quickly, whether within the current map or multiple maps.

One of the most helpful aspects is the program’s host of templates and wizards that help get things rolling. If you need to write a To-Do-List, Resume, Organizational Chart, Meeting Agenda, a list of Department Personnel, or a Week at a Glance, there are ready-made templates for each. All you have to do is open the template and customize it. For example, academics follow a particular process for writing an article (literature search, generating hypotheses, developing a data collection instrument, collecting data, analyzing, writing a draft, editing, submitting, re-writing based on reviewer comments, and proofreading). If you or your colleagues follow the same steps and routine when starting a research project, you can build a custom template for doing that, with each of the above phrases being captured as a Main Topic. More detailed information is then captured as cascading layers of subtopics.

If you have co-authors or a team of graduate students, the mind map can be shared with them as a Microsoft Project chart, Word document, or PowerPoint slides. Mind maps can also be published as web pages, using fully customizable templates. MindManager has a full-screen presentation mode that allows you to present a bird’s eye overview, then lets you highlight each one of the topics or a subtopic under discussion by centering it on the screen.

Though we have not tried it, there is a new feature, which will let you import XML feeds (including RSS feeds) into a mind map. Once inserted in a map, it is automatically updated to show the latest up-to-date links to the respective site. Updates can occur whenever the user requests it or when the map is opened.

Nor have I had a chance to try a new feature that enables you to export map topics, relationships, and notes from your MindManager Pro 6 maps to Microsoft Visio. Another feature, which we did not test, is the Tablet PC support (which was a special version in the past). Users of a pen-based PC can utilize the program’s ink-enabled features. There is a feature that might help product developers generate and capture new product ideas. Adding hand-written text to topic notes and creating basic sketches within topic notes seems like it could be especially valuable for brainstorming. A split window enables you to view both text notes and ink (hand-written) notes at the same time.

The new Excel Linker enables users to display in the map a dynamic view of an existing Excel spreadsheet. You merely select the location (topic) in the MindManager map where you want your spreadsheet to appear, and then highlight the range of cells that you want in your map. A click on the MindManager icon inside Excel places the selection in your map as a kind of live window into the attached spreadsheet. To make changes to the spreadsheet, you double click on it to open the actual Excel document itself. You make the changes, then save the document, and the changes will be immediately reflected in your MindManager map. This could be useful if when tracking periodic data changes such as company sales, personal stock prices, or some other frequently changing data. You can even create a basic spreadsheet in MindManager Pro 6, without opening Excel.

The new Internet Explorer Linker adds a blue map icon to the Internet Explorer toolbar. When surfing, you can click on this icon and the page title and hyperlink is immediately added to your map.

MindManager Pro 6 also improves the Review Mode to make it easier for groups to add their input to a map. You can add review comments to a map, which the map “owner” can subsequently accept or reject. The Review Mode enables team or project leaders to quickly gather and review feedback. The feedback can come from team members, or from company customers in a focus group setting.

In summary, MindManager Pro 6 in particular, and mind mapping in general are not for everyone. But if you need to collect and organize a sea of information and data into a cohesive plan, alone or with a team, MindManager Pro 6 is worth a try. According to Mindjet, the company has 750,000 customers around the world, and is adding new customers at the rate of more than 15,000 per month

Mindjet MindManager Pro 6 provides individuals and teams with the easiest way to capture, organize, and share ideas and information. It is intuitive and easy to learn and easy to use. MindManager hides its power and complexity from users, enabling them to aggregate in one interface information from multiple enterprise applications and information sources. The seamless integration to Microsoft Office is particularly valuable. MindManager Pro 6 users can quickly interact with complex information and ideas, then publish the results in whatever format suits each particular audience.

If you need the benefits of time-savings, increased productivity and creativity – along with an improved ability to get value from existing information assets, the program is well worth “playing with.” Download the free version and try it. You may never let go. To explore product-training options, there is a Training Center at www.mindjet.com/training. For product technical support, Mindjet offers an online Support Center at www.mindjet.com/support. The company offers a Mindjet Newsletter with cases of users and how they apply MindManager, product tips, and tricks, and information on software upgrades, add-ins and special offers. This too is available on line at www.Mindjet.com/newsletter or you can sign up for it to be delivered to you by e-mail. The company also has two blogs: The Mindjet corporate blog is as blog.mindjet.co. The blog for the Mindjet Labs, where new add-ins and various beta integrations are posted, is at http://mindjetlabs.blogspot.com/ The Mindjet Labs itself is at www.mindjet.com/labs/

MindManager Pro 6 is a remarkably valuable yet intuitive program. There is little doubt why this single program has made Mindjet premier in the product category and extremely successful.

System requirements

Microsoft® Windows® XP, Professional, Home or Tablet PC Editions; Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Windows NT, ® Workstation 4. 0 with Service Pack, and Microsoft Windows Server 2003.

Edited by Dennis A. PittaUniversity of Baltimore