I’ve recently noticed several posts mentioning mind mapping and other forms of defining process and capturing ideas. I can’t tell you how many tools I have used over the years for this purpose, Visio being my absolute least favorite. (I’ve also run the gambit of note-taking applications, from OneNote to EverNote, my current favorite.) But mind mapping is a simple and cool visual way to illustrate how a process or system might work. This little example below was quickly done on my iPhone using SimpleMind, which I then saved as an image, then imported into this post (using the WordPress iPhone edition). It’s a simplified example but it does show how easy it is to diagram the initial stages of thought for a project. I’m gonna kick this one around for a while, and see if there is a more complete version for the desktop.
There’s not much more to this application. You create related boxes and can move them about the screen. You can change the color scheme and either export it as an image or export it to the paid version ($6.99). For free, this is definitely worth trying out, especially if you’re like me and finding your phone a bigger part of running your business.