Brainstorming software?

February 24, 2005 3:45 AM

Via a FPP, I found this: a "Mindjet brainstorming tool" that can be integrated in Word. It seems like a good way of structuring your thoughts , even better than paper (I always seem to mess up the structure). The only downside is the price: is there any freeware that does something similar, that is easy to use and integrate in Word? Thanks.
posted by NekulturnY to Writing & Language (5 answers total)

I don't know if it's exactly the same thing, but there is FreeMind, open source mind-mapping software.

Comparing to other packages, Dave Pollard's How to Save the World says it's "less robust and a bit counterintuitive but perfectly serviceable, and it's free) -- all use a tree-structure or 'fish-bone' approach to organizing thoughts and information."

I doubt it has the Word compatibility, but I haven't researched it in any depth.

I've been thinking about using one or another of these packages. I'd be curious to hear if others find them useful.
posted by sagwalla at 6:49 AM on February 24, 2005

You might find Inspiration useful. It's mostly designed for kids, but it only costs $70...
posted by plinth at 8:52 AM on February 24, 2005

I have played with Compendium a little and have found it both easy to use and with more depth than I will probably ever need.

It does seem to have some integration with word (at least for exporting) and you can "hotlink" word docs (and any other type of file for that matter) from within your various maps.

Oh, and FREE!
posted by lpqboy at 9:33 AM on February 24, 2005

some good search terms for this include "mind mapping". Integration with Word can always occur as an imported graphic. Graphviz looks daunting but is very cool and free.
posted by craniac at 5:02 PM on February 24, 2005

Well, I've decided to try Freemind for a while. If that doesn't work, it'll be the others. Thanks for helping out!
posted by NekulturnY at 1:29 AM on February 25, 2005