Review -Mind Pad

Mind Pad is a piece of software for producing concept maps - visual representations of information, structures and processes. It's a strange mix of simple and complex. In terms of user hand-holding and supported processes it's a very simple product. All it provides is the ability to draw shapes and to link them. There are no wizards to help you input the data, no way to export and import, nothing designed to support the creative process. However, and it's a big however for programmer types, Mind Pad's objects are very flexible. You can add all sorts of information to a box, for instance (in the provided contact map example, each box can have a full list of contact fields like phone number, email etc). You can design your own objects and fit them into your maps. But the whole thing feels very programmer-oriented. It uses terms like "Select frame class" (actually "classs" in the version we've got) which are meaningless to normal human beings, and there's really no point trying to design objects unless you are familiar with object oriented programming.

There are a couple of other problems. The software only works with something called Microsoft .NET Framework. If you don't already have this (and many won't) it's a 23 Mb download on top of the program itself. But rather more of concern is the way the term "mind maps" is used throughout the software and the website. Mind maps are a very specific type of concept map, particularly useful for note taking and arranging information in a human-absorbable form. The key feature of a mind map is that they grow tree-like from a central point, and the information is written on the branches. Mind Pad's maps are NOT mind maps. This isn't just trivial semantics - they work in a different way and provide a totally different effect.

It isn't all bad. If you want concept mapping with the programmer-flexibility this application provides it is totally unrivalled. But don't be fooled into thinking it's a mind mapping product for the average user, because it isn't.

If you want to compare this product with some real mind mapping software see our idea structuring page.

Download now

Mind Pad is available for download on a 30 day free trial from the Mind Pad website.