What is Mind Mapping
How to proceed to make it efficient in entreprise ?
Mind Mapping became really popular in the 70s’, when it was introduced by the psychologist / author Mr. Tony Buzan. It is based on theories related to the functions of our brain and our habits.
This approach is a visual way to share and represent ideas / concepts. It is remarkably effective during Brainstorming sessions, especially for people who need to visualise ideas. This also helps the participants to concretise their ideas and see the potential they could have.
Create a Mind Map
This method can be applied in different ways, such as using a paper sheet, with pens and other tools to draw and draft on it. Some software also exist, which allow the users to do the same process electronically. In any case, the guideline to respect is always the same.
To develop further, the goal is to illustrate thoughts through drawings, images etc., yet with a certain structure. For that end :
- Have a paper sheet of a big format, not to limit yourself with ideas. If the sheet is small (eg.: A4 format), you would unconsciously restrict yourself in the number of ideas you make.
- Leave room for imagination, write and draw anything that comes to your mind, as long as it is related to the project.
- Draw the main topic of your workshop in the center of the sheet.
- Connect the main idea / concepts of your topic by using “branches”.
- Keep it simple. Too complicated ideas could lead your project to development issues.
- Represent and identify clearly each branch.
- Link secondary ideas to the main branches. There is no limit to that, which means even have sub-branches of those secondary ideas.
To better understand how this process works, here is and illustration :
Take for example the creation of a backpack. During the “Empathize” phase, you gathered data on potential clients. Based on that, you have imagined 5 different ways of creating the product (the 5 main branches). The secondary ideas are in that case the characteristics of each version of the product, for instance its weight, the material used, number of pockets and so on. There are obviously no limit regarding the characteristics that you would like to add.
This approach can be used in various ways and with divers objectives in mind. The most important point to remember is that Mind Mapping has 1 limit, your imagination.
Good luck with your projects and now, get ready to draw !