Thing 45: Flow Charts and Mind Maps

I chose Gliffy to explore as a web-based flow chart utility and MindMeister as my web-based mind map/brainstorming utility. Setting up accounts on both was simple. Gliffy let you create your flow chart directly after making an account but needed email confirmation before you could make it public. MindMeister needed email confirmation before letting you use the tool but it showed up in my email in no time. Since I am on vacation at this point, I thought I would use it to toss around some ideas for how to spend my time. "What to do on vacation?" is what I called my flowchart diagram and mind map. I know that my flowchart is not technically correct since I did not link anything. But I got my thoughts down to see them.

I liked that MindMeister gave you a video tutorial immediately after logging in. Their help files were very nice too. Gliffy's layout was very intuitive and labeled very well. I had a flow chart of vacation ideas in no time. I would probably use flowcharts for conveying ideas to a group and mind maps for personal brainstorming and exploration. It's nice to have a tool that lets you visualize your ideas and their connections to decisions that you make.