In this blog post, we’re looking at mind-mapping software - a great addition to any learner’s toolkit.
In case you haven’t come across them before, mind-maps are a way of
creating a structured, visual summary of your ideas on a particular topic. You
can see a simple example at the bottom of this post. Mind-maps have plenty of
applications for learning, such as preparing for an essay, planning a project,
or connecting concepts during revision.
While paper-based mind-maps work fine, digital mind-mapping
tools give a whole new level of flexibility. Here I’m going to review one such
tool, the free, web-based version of MindMeister, and briefly compare it with an open-source alternative, Freemind.
Free? What’s the catch?
MindMeister is run on a “freemium” model (‘Freemium’, 2020), where a basic service is
provided without charge, but more advanced features are available on payment of
a monthly subscription.
This marketing model assumes that you will enjoy the features of the free
version but quickly get frustrated by the limitations and want to upgrade. The site gives you frequent, slightly annoying, reminders, about the benefits of upgrading. However, the site is pleasantly free of other adverts.
To use MindMeister, you must sign up by providing your name,
email address and a password, or by using an existing account for another
platform such as Google or Facebook.
MindMeister is operated by a German company, MeisterLabs. Their privacy policy is easy to find on their website and is governed
by the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, which provides considerable
protection for users (GDPR.EU, 2018). Users’ data is only used for
limited purposes that support use of the tool and is deleted as soon as
possible. MeisterLabs states that it does not currently sell any personally
identifiable data to other organisations, but reserves the right to change this
in the future. They state that you can terminate your free contract at any time and your data
will be removed. It’s worth noting, however, that Trustpilot (n.d.) carries a number of negative reviews
about difficulty in terminating MindMeister’s subscription service.
If you use a third-party account such as Google for your sign-up,
you need to be aware of the more extensive use made of your data by those companies.
As this is a typical SaaS product,
you don’t get to own the software - even if you pay a subscription. The Terms of Service simply allow you
to store and process your data through the company’s web-based software. You
retain ownership of the mind-maps that you create, but in practice what you can
do with them under the free service is limited – you can only view and share
them within MindMeister itself or take a screenshot. In the paid version, you
can print or export them as images or pdf. The other frustrating
limitation of the free service is that you can only have three maps at once, so
you need to keep deleting old ones.
What’s the user experience?
MindMeister has an uncluttered, intuitive interface and there
are easy keyboard shortcuts for creating new topics, so you can produce a simple
mind-map of your ideas almost as fast as you can think them. Topics can be
moved around, have multiple connections, and be deleted without fuss – just the
sort of flexibility you need when sketching out ideas. Formatting options are
available to improve the map’s appearance.
As the maps are stored online, you can easily share them with others for viewing or editing – great if you are working on a group project or assignment.
MindMeister is straightforward to use, but if you get stuck there
is an extensive and clearly laid-out online Help Center,
with an effective search tool. There’s a range of tutorials on MindMeister’s
own YouTube channel and email
support is also available.
Any alternatives?
If the limitations of MindMeister's free service, and the frequent prompts to upgrade to the paid version, become too irritating, consider downloading Freemind, a free, open-source mind-mapping software that is available from SourceForge. Freemind has a rather dated interface, and its web presence lacks the glitziness of MindMeister, but I've found its functionality to be just as good - and in some respects better. You can print and export in multiple formats, and there is no limit on the number of maps you can create. There is no formal online support, but it has helpful documentation and there is an active users' forum. Best of all, there is nothing at all to sign up to, so no risks for your privacy or data, and once you download the software to your computer it is yours for ever.
Apart from its more modern 'feel', MindMeister's one real advantage over Freemind is that it is online, so it is easy to share and use for collaborative projects. If this is important to you, it might be worth upgrading to the lowest price subscription service (currently USD 4.99 per month). Otherwise, Freemind may well be just what you need.
References
Freemium. (2020). In Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Freemium&oldid=979805761
GDPR.EU.
(2018, November 7). What is GDPR, the EU’s new data protection law?
GDPR.Eu. https://gdpr.eu/what-is-gdpr/
Trustpilot.
(n.d.). MindMeister. Trustpilot. Retrieved 25 September 2020, from
https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.mindmeister.com
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| Screenshot of a simple MindMeister mind-map - the one used to plan this blog |
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