Mind Map Software - Free Mind

A friend of mine, Chris York, turned me on to mind mapping as a way to flush out projects and requirements. I love it.

Mind mapping is a way to document and diagram meeting notes, while the meeting is taking place. It allows the meeting to be a freeform expression of thoughts, while maintaining the general topic.

During meetings, conversations tend to move from one topic to another, seemingly directionless. This is an excellent place to capture salient points about a software or technology project, without overcontrolling the meeting. It can also help to avoid repetition, because you can go to a branch on the map and add or remove detail as needed.

You can also use mindmapping outside meetings to organize your own thoughts and projects. It will help you take a general idea and create concrete action items and ToDos.

Here's some info on mindmapping:

Mind Map Wikipedia Entry

Here's FreeMind, an open source, java software package that will help you implement it:

FreeMind