JulianSchrader.de

A great way to thought-shower collaboratively online: MindMeister

There’s a new tool that eases the process of thought showering (formerly known as brainstorming, but that’s politically incorrect):

MindMeister brings the concept of mind mapping to the web, using its facilities for real-time collaboration to allow truly global brainstorming sessions.

Users can create, manage and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. In brainstorming mode, fellow MindMeisters from around the world (or just in different rooms) can simultaneously work on the same mind map – and see each other’s changes as they happen. Using integrated Skype calls, they can throw around new ideas and put them down on “paper” at the same time.

I stumbled over MindMeister in early March and signed up for the private beta. I immediately got an invite and tried a few things here and there—and eventually forgot about it.

The day before yesterday I found a new e-mail from MindMeister in my Inbox—it said We’re live!, but I didn’t have any time. Yesterday some friends and I had a Skype conference running—we discussed the stuff we had to learn for an exam—and somehow I checked MindMeister.com and logged in to see if we could perhaps use it to collaborate easier.

A very nice UI awaited me and I could create the new mindmap intuitively, and sent out invites to my friends so that they can not only watch it but edit it as well.

Let me quote another excerpt from MindMeister’s about page:

As with any standard mind mapping application, you create new maps by adding ideas as they come to your mind. Whether you’re the keyboard type (press INS or TAB to add an idea), or prefer using the mouse (double-click anywhere in the map, click the toolbar buttons and drag&drop to move ideas around), you can build your mind maps within a few minutes.

…and that’s exactly how it works. Easy and intuitive. There was no need to get used to it—we could just use it right from the beginning. I think that’s great, especially for collaboration tools.

The screenshot above shows our result—this is about what we had to learn for our exam. Well, it’s small—but you get the idea.

The Result:

MindMeister is a strong tool for online collaboration and thought showering, above all if you combine it with Skype. Yesterday’s MindMeister session and a Skype conference call led to very high productivity.

I’m considering upgrading to the premium plan—additional features include unlimited MindMaps (whereas there’s a limit of 6 with the free plan), exporting to FreeMind (not only to RTF or PNG/GIF/JPG) and the possibility to add MindMaps to your own website/blog.

The application feels very nice and works snappy. Sounds interesting and isn’t that expensive—even for a student

I’m in no way affiliated to MindMeister—wouldn’t mind a free premium account though