Excellent software for Creative non-business types.
December 01, 2018

Excellent software for Creative non-business types.

Erik Freeman | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with MindManager

MindManager is not a tool that is being adopted by my whole organization, but my use of it to give visuals that correlate with data is what has prompted my department to adopt this tool for a pilot program. Being one of the largest departments in the state of MN the biggest problem we have is getting new employees up to speed with how all the government organizations/programs interact with one another. Using MindManager has made this much easier.
  • Strategic Planning
  • Brainstorming
  • Process Mapping
  • Education & Training
  • Knowledge Management
  • Meeting Management
  • Problem Solving
  • MindManager allows me to plead my case for more resources, show when there is scope creep, illustrate how complex a topic is, or to present high-level documentation that can be expanded to give the most granular steps/details.
  • MindManager can be leveraged to take the detailed notes of an analyst inside the basic visual overview that upper management cares about.
  • MindManager can export all the diagrams you build into HTML maps that will contain all the documents, images, graphics, and structure created in the tool. This eliminates the requirement of a proprietary tool needed by the recipient of the mind map to see your exports. Anyone can see the maps in the same way you built them.
  • MindManager is excellent in purveying complex scenarios in easy to understand diagrams.
  • Dashboard Wizard - There is a bit of a skill set required and knowledge of conditional formatting. A wizard would help you set this up with examples and guided questions to get the content you want on the map.
  • New sheet from a topic - Xmind has the ability to have a topic open in another tab as a central topic. All the maps in Xmind are within the same file, no linking to external maps. MindManager allows you to import a map as a topic but with it you need to either import the content from the map which will be forced to take on the attributes of the parent map, or just link to the other map. Multi Tab maps in MM would be awesome. It is one of my most used features in Xmind and keeps everything in one place.
  • Re-Ordering of topics in a flowchart for presentation in HTML5/PowerPoint/Word export - One item, in particular, that would put this product over the top is being able to re-order the topics in a process flow so it can be used more effectively in a presentation. Process flows are constantly changing when you get new information. If you edit the map by adding or putting a topic in between two earlier topics the presentation mode will not focus on that topic until the end of the presentation. If you put a topic at the end of the flow the presentation will jump ahead and then go back. It would be nice to omit parts of the flowchart from the presentation as well. Additional export types for the output of a flowchart would also be handy. The export to HTML5 is excellent, and so long as you manually click from topic to topic it is functional and impressive. But it is lacking the fine-tuned polish and sub-features that would really put it over the top and make it useful for distribution to people other than those intimately familiar with the material.
  • More documentation on how to create Macros.
  • Outlook HTML formatting support without a plugin. The reformatting of email in MM can make things more confusing.
  • Record or attach audio to a topic. – Sometimes training or narration need to be a part of a map. Many tools implement this natively nowadays.
  • Play video from within a topic or in an integrated window. – Video is also commonly used now to eliminate the need for documentation. It would be nice to watch and add notes or just include in a map.
  • SnagIt Support – I thought I remembered this in earlier versions. I cannot seem to create a link between MM and SnagIt anymore.
  • Start with a truly blank map (a sandbox) and be able to place any type of topic on the screen and build anything. Xmind Zen is essentially doing this now.
  • Filter using images/icons.
  • Create image/tag/color legend on map. When legend item is clicked focus on the topics that have the Legend item properties. Would be great in HTML5 output.
  • Un-filter a filtered HTML5 export using a toggle on the HTML Map. When sending out a couple example maps to people unfamiliar with the usage they did not know that there was more content available and made assumptions based on only what they saw. An alert notifying the map is filtered would be nice on the output.
  • Flowchart to Visio Export
  • Exporting to Word/PowerPoint - If you could bring the same level of control to these exports that you did to your HTML5 exporter you would have all the bases covered. Unless I define my own word template the output from a map to work has a messy feel. I really like to do business analysis with maps. I bring in map parts when defining evidence types, scope statements, and requirements. I drag the map parts to the map and define all the info my branches ask for when I include evidence. I would love to be able to export my maps to Microsoft Word and have a great output for my Issue Analysis, Requirement Documents, Traceability Matrix, etc. While I have found ways to make this work and quicker for me I have talked to others that would like to see things perfectly laid out on export that do not have the time to do the tricks and tweaks I have become used to over the years with word templates. It would be nice to have strong export support for Word and PowerPoint documents. Something more visual perhaps that lets a user preview how their export will look before they execute it.
  • Mindmanager lowers the amount of time I need to explain myself by a considerable amount.
  • Mindmanager saves time in training and explanation of objectives by allowing a visual top level and deeper dive notes if needed
The majority of my work is analyst based, and I constantly try to show my superiors/coworkers how I can leverage MindManager to take the detailed notes of an analyst inside the basic visual overview that upper management cares about. They can choose to expand any details they care about and ignore the rest. My notes and research are all contained within the topics ready to use. It is also an excellent way to purvey a status. Anyone that understands mind maps knows that the messier and larger the map the greater amount of information and/or chaos there is. I use mind maps to plead my case for more resources, show when there is scope creep, illustrate how complex a topic is, or to present high-level documentation that can be expanded to give the most granular steps/details. I find a ton of uses for these tools when it comes to communicating complex scenarios so people can more easily consume the information.

SImply put, MindManager is the only enterprise focused mind mapping utility that can attach to data and use conditional formatting to give a true visual image to translate the complexity of the data that lies beneith. The closest coparison is Xmind. However MindManager is expensive and the price constantly prevents me from getting this software at the companies I work for, and it makes it impossible to purchase for home use. There are a lot of free or cheap products that can do the most important functions of mindmanager without the flair and flash.
MindManager is best suited to make a picture tell a thousand words especially in front of large groups. I don't have trouble finding appropriate uses for this software in every conceiveable scenario. It is a sandbox that with enough imagination can be used to streamline nearly any scenario.