Great tool for quickly organizing complex topics
August 07, 2019

Great tool for quickly organizing complex topics

David Lenef | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with MindManager

I am the only person in my company using MindManager. I selected it because it was a highly rated mind mapping program that was offered by our official software provider. I have used various mind mapping programs for a long time, including good old pen and paper before the software was even available. (Yes, I'm dating myself!) I find mind mapping tools invaluable for initially organizing subjects or projects. This gives me an initial understanding and sense of scale.
  • Brainstorming
  • Education & Training
  • Knowledge Management
  • Task and Project Management
  • Project Planning
  • Super easy keyboard-only entry and navigation.
  • Rearrange elements in one click with the "Balance Design" function.
  • Export outlines to Word.
  • Save to PDF would be nice.
  • Show theme preview on mouse hover of available themes.
  • Offer a simple UI option for quick 'n dirty brainstorming when all the advanced features are just noise.
  • Saved several hours each month in providing a single source of knowledge about topics.
  • Enabled me to create higher quality and more complete sales tools.
  • Ultimately, it's a key factor in increasing the knowledge and effectiveness of our sales team.
I have a creative job role with my primary output being sales tools and marketing pieces. I use MindManager every time I am faced with a project that is large and/or not entirely known by me. My deliverables have a variety of formats, including documents, presentations, and videos. Usually, mind mapping is a tool I use for myself, but I have occasionally shared a map with others to collaboratively develop the basis for a new piece of content. I have also used MindManager as a tool to research other tools or services. For example, when we were searching for a file-sharing system to support our sales team, I was able to more quickly wrap my head around this class of SAAS by researching the topic and collecting my thoughts into a mind map.
I like that MindManager is local software instead of a cloud-based service like MindMeister. This lets me work on a map even when I don't have internet access. It's also faster and more fully-featured.

Visio is a cumbersome tool for mind mapping, as it is optimized for design more than rapid entry and organizing.
MindManager is actually more advanced and complex than I need, but it was the only mind mapping software that my company agreed to pay for. That said, I am completely satisfied with how it supports rapid brainstorming and organizing. For example, when planning a presentation about one of our product lines, I used MindManager to gather our collective knowledge, organize the facts into categories, and use the categories as a framework for the presentation sections.