Whether you’re doing your mind map online or on a physical whiteboard, you know how beneficial this tool is for your productivity, creativity and planning. However, did you know that there are several different types of mind maps? And that they have different uses?
Keep reading to find out more about organic, speed and radial maps; and how to use them to unleash your creative process.
Organic Mind Maps
Organic mind maps are the closest looking to the traditional mind maps done on whiteboards. They look hand-drawn, adn give you a lot of creative freedom when it comes to displaying and linking different points.
Organic mind maps support the natural thinking process and give you an opportunity to create something engaging. With this style, you have complete creative control, and you can use different colors or even images to illustrate your points.
But, when should you use organic maps?
Organic mind maps are best used when you need to create something visually stimulating, like when you’re researching a topic for a new blog post, or when you need to share some information with other team members.
Speed Mind Maps
Speed maps help you write down ideas on the go, when you need something simple, yet still visually satisfying, without sacrificing a lot of time.
When you use a mind map online to do speed maps, the software will automatically adjust your formats, links, and branches. Afterwards, when you’re done with inputting information, you’ll get the opportunity to do some more customization to make the speed map more presentable.
When should you use speed mind maps?
Brainstorming sessions are the perfect field for speed maps – you can capture information in one place easily, without worrying whether it’ll get lost in a pile of post-it notes. Students also use speed maps to create quick notes during classes without losing focus.
Radial Mind Maps
Radial mind maps look like pie charts, and they give you a 360-degree overview of information. With this approach, you can easily break down the project into separate steps, and visualize what needs to be done more easily.
The center of your radial map will represent your core idea, while all surrounding areas will represent the segments that fall under that core idea. For example, if you’re planning to release a new ebook, that will be in your center, and other areas will represent the research process, writing, designing, promotion, etc.
Some mind map online tools will give you options to expand each of these segments to the desired width so you’ll be able to make the more important parts more prominent. It’s a great way to map out priorities.
In general, radial mind maps are used when you need to break down a large project into smaller sections.
Final Thoughts
Mind map online solutions give you options to switch between these three mind map types as you please, so you can simply adjust them to your momentary needs in just a few clicks. But, whichever style you choose – we recommend that you use maps to collaborate with your team more effectively, and share them with everyone involved.
Depending on the mind mapping software you select, you might even be able to invite team members to edit the maps. This way you can make brainstorming sessions more engaging, while keeping everyone on the same page while the project lasts.