Mind maps vs Concept maps - For getting overview-control of your larger projects

Ship69

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Hello

I have recently come across software that does "Concept Mapping" rather than "Mind Mapping" as such.

I have become increasingly disenchanted with the rigidity of conventional "mind maps" that are tree-like in that they all have one central node, and cross-branches (between limbs of said tree as it were) are always an after-thought. The real world of one's life is more fluid and complex than a simple tree with everything on it.

But I have discovered a class of software called "Concept Mapping" that allows you to "rough things out" with lots of floating boxes that you connect up with lines/arrows as things become clearer, (but without everything having to be on the one strict hierarchical tree!)

A very good start is Scapple, but although it does a very good job, it's pretty basic, with a few rough edges and development stopped 3 years ago at Window v1.0.0.0.

Other similar "Concept Mapping" applications are now starting to appear. I have only had a brief play with any of them but here are some that seem promising:

1. IHMC CampTools (v6)
Windows/Linux/OSx
Cost: FREE for commercial use (donations)
It seems a bit clunky & ugly interface but it seems to do a good job.
Tip: If you don't want your arrows to be labelled hold down shift key when dragging to create arrows between boxes.
Seems to have some loyal followers.

2. Mindomo.com (choose "Blank Concept Map")
Web app.
Cost: €36/ 6 months ==> €72/year? (First 3 maps are free)
One or two slightly rough edges (and IMHO irritating default) but overall much slicker and more fully featured than CampTools.
e.g. Allows you to drop icons onto them. Allows you to attach notes, comments and votes to text boxes.
(i.e. more of a team environment, presumably )

3. bubbl.us
Web app (Flash)
Cost: $59/year (First 3 maps are free)
Interestingly textboxes (i.e. "bubbles") can be connected in one of two ways:
a) A parent-child relationship OR
b) Just with an arrow
It feels simpler/more limited than Mindomo, but it does interesting things with colour. i.e. If a text box (i.e. "bubble") is a child of something it's colour automatically goes round the colour wheel from the parent. I'm not sure I can cope with that colour palette nor if it can be turned off completely

4. MindManager2016 (2017 soon)
Cost: £298.80 (one-off purchase) (£154.80 upgrade)
It has a new thing called "Concept Map" which does away with the enforced tree structure.
[Aside: Personally I have always found MindManger to be annoyingly expensive for something I use only rather rarely. Worse upgrades have also been very expensive over the years. The software has also always been stupidly bloated with long learning curve. However there have always been subtleties about MM and the way you navigate around larger mindmaps & line things up and use hotkeys that I have always found very much better than the lower cost/free alternatives]

5. yEd
Windows & (new) web versions
Free I think. Has a loyal following too I think.
Has some amazing tools but it is very clunky and keeps talking about "edges" instead of arrows/lines or connectors, which is a bad start for mainstream users. Annoyingly the various automatic layouts that are possible only apply to the entire diagram. On my own PC (Windows 10), a number of the popup dialogues go badly wrong. (Black text on black background for exit dialog... You have been warned!) It clearly has loads of potential, but you can't just back in loads of stuff at high speed using the keyboard.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the above and on what tools you use for larger projects to "rough things out" and get a good over-view of your larger projects. (Or even the whole of your life??)

J
 

Oogiem

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The only software that does anything like mind mapping that I use is Scapple. It's more than sufficient for the rudimentary flowcharts I use it for. Just because development has stopped doesn't make it useless. I'm actually glad it's not gotten any more complex or added any bells and whistles. I tried several other packages because so many GTDers say mind mapping is the bees knees but for me they don't work so Scapple does just fine for the few areas I can use that sort of tool.
 

Ship69

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paper-edv said:
TheBrain (www.thebrain.com) may be the solution for you...

Yes, TheBrain looks promising on paper, but unfortunately it seems to rearrange everything every time you add a new connection, and personally I *hate* this because I think very visually and the new shapes it creates bear little resemblance to the previous shape. So, "close but no cigar" !
 

Gardener

Registered
I've gone low tech for my personal as opposed to work stuff. I use paper--hardbound grid-printed lab notebooks (referred to elsethread) and a mechanical pencil. I don't know why pencil, because I rarely erase; apparently I just prefer the feel of writing with a mechanical pencil. And I prefer the booklike nature of the hardbound notebook, and the permanent feel that results from being unable to pull out pages cleanly.

I scribble my thoughts, rethink them, X out the page so that I can tell at a glance that it's no longer current but I can go back and read it if I want to, and scribble them again. I put thoughts about anything and everything in the current notebook. When it's full, I move on to the next notebook. I plan to keep the notebooks permanently.

This is relatively new to me--I'm only in my second "scribbling" notebook, plus the bed notebook for the garden. But it's working well enough that I just sent off for five more. My first notebook was 9" X 11.5"; my second and the bed notebook and the new batch are 5.5" X 8.5", which works much better--it fits in almost any pocket of my computer bag, fits in a normal size purse, and so on.

I'm not sure why this works, since I don't like paper and handwriting for much of anything else. But for lists and speculations and anything mind-mappy, it does. It might be the tactile element; I think that someone suggested that elsethread.
 

TesTeq

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Gardener said:
And I prefer the booklike nature of the hardbound notebook, and the permanent feel that results from being unable to pull out pages cleanly.

I think this "permanent feel" is a very important feature of the tool which we use as an external memory module of our brain. We want it to be 100% reliable. What is more reliable than the hardbound notebook? Sticky notes that disappear behind our desk? Phone with 0% battery? Hard disk with 2-year "lifetime" warranty? Cloud storage with weak links and even weaker business model?
 

mcogilvie

Registered
I have mostly moved away from mindmaps. I tend to have two kinds of more complicated projects. One type just has a lot of moving parts. For example, I chair our department's colloquium committee. In that role, I interact with visitors, colleagues, staff and students. Capturing and organizing are important, but visualizing not really. The other type of complicated project is just too complicated for mindmaps: long, technical descriptions of ideas, to say nothing of sketches and equations. Paper would work for such mindmaps, but that loses the flexibility of electronic mindmaps. I tend to use a mixture of paper and electronic notes with some outlining. I think mindmaps are fine, but aren't that useful for me. I do use an inexpensive mindmapping tool occasionally. I am convinced however that companies like Mindjet with high-priced, feature-bloated mindmapping apps are poor values.
 

Gardener

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Andrea7 said:
Gardener mind sharing what notebook you're using? I'm on the hunt for the perfect sized notebook. 5.5 x 8.5 sounds perfect!

Sure! On Amazon, the description line in my order is

Vela DuraCover Field Notebook / 5.5 x 8.5 / 136 Pages / Grid

They're disturbingly expensive, but so far it takes me a good long time to use one up.

Edited to add: Other parts of the appeal: numbered pages, a table of contents to allow you to log what's on each page, and a bookmark ribbon. I don't use the table of contents so far, except for the bed notebook, but I could see myself starting to do so.
 

Oogiem

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Gardener said:
Vela DuraCover Field Notebook / 5.5 x 8.5 /
Have you ever compared them to moleskine? I have some of those, I use them as lambing books, a on again off again diary and a drawing notebook.
 

Gardener

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Oogiem said:
Have you ever compared them to moleskine? I have some of those, I use them as lambing bok=oks, a on again off again diary and a drawing notebook.

I prefer them to moleskine, though I've never had a moleskine precisely this size and shape--the one I just grabbed to compare with is less than half the size of this notebook. But I think that these notebooks open flat more reliably--moleskines tend to fight me when I want them to sit flat, especially the first few pages. And the cover of this notebook is as hard as a hardback, while the moleskine cover, while stiff, is a little less sturdy-feeling--though that may be about the size of the notebook.
 

TesTeq

Registered
Gardener said:
I prefer them to moleskine, though I've never had a moleskine precisely this size and shape--the one I just grabbed to compare with is less than half the size of this notebook. But I think that these notebooks open flat more reliably--moleskines tend to fight me when I want them to sit flat, especially the first few pages. And the cover of this notebook is as hard as a hardback, while the moleskine cover, while stiff, is a little less sturdy-feeling--though that may be about the size of the notebook.

I was using a hard cover moleskine notebook as an expenses log. Hard cover detached after 8 years. I'm disappointed!
 

aderoy

Registered
Another application for concept maps is call VUE
The Visual Understanding Environment (VUE) is an Open Source project based at Tufts University. The VUE project is focused on creating flexible tools for managing and integrating digital resources in support of teaching, learning and research. VUE provides a flexible visual environment for structuring, presenting, and sharing digital information.

More information can be found here:
Works on Windows, OSX, Linux

Of course a tabloid sheet of paper (11x18 inch) with pencil works for roughing out the links
 

David Parker

GTD Connect
Useful discussion, as always on the forum. I was looking to cut the cost of mind mapping as my Mindjet/MindManager subscription was up and, as noted above, it's quite expensive and bloated with features that I never use.

Thanks to Oogiem I've gone for Scapple - rudimentary but adequate and cheap. But not as cheap as pencil and paper!

David
 

Oogiem

Registered
drparker48 said:
Thanks to Oogiem I've gone for Scapple - rudimentary but adequate and cheap.
Keep us posted as to how it works for you. I'm finding a few more uses for it now but still don't miss any features used in fancier products.
 
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