Turning thoughts and ideas into graphical ‘maps’ using computers rather than paper isn’t new, with perhaps the most well-known application being Mindjet’s MindManager. However, at £200 it can hardly be called affordable.

IdeasMap from Softease is considerably cheaper in price at £39. But is it any good?

Well, it’s not bad. The program’s presentation is cartoon-like but we soon realised that this works in IdeasMap’s favour when trying to get children interested in mind-mapping.

Mind-mapping revolves, literally, around a central topic, from which all other ideas are linked in the form of subtopics. In IdeasMap, topics take the form of resizable text boxes, which can be set in various shapes to help distinguish different thought threads. Pictures and backgrounds can be added as well.

Finished maps can be saved in a proprietary format, or as text or HTML files, ­ meaning they can be viewed reasonably faithfully by anyone with a web browser.

We really like IdeasMap and it’s an affordable way into electronic mind-mapping. However, paper will always be cheaper.

Also consider:
Mindjet Mindmanager Pro 6
An expensive but excellent way to organise thoughts
4/5
£233

All children's educational software reviews