University of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Undergraduate student, Strathclyde University, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Science Teacher, Biotechnology, Thomas Cowley High School,
Director of MBA Programmes, University of Edinburgh Business School, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Business student, Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom
University Hospital Hairmyres, Glasgow, United Kingdom. The comments were written while Dr. Marron was a fourth-year student at Glasgow University, preparing for her career in medicine.
Deputy Director and Head of Project Services, Information Services, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Student Adviser (Assistive Technology), University of Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom
Tutor Coordinator, Associate Professor, Harding University, Searcy, Arkansas, USA
(Note: These comments were written while Todd was a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania — and a member of a team that built a racing car from scratch three times to compete in a string of international competitions. He’s currently in Program Management at Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan, USA.)
“My background was in industrial engineering, so I was very process oriented. When I joined the team I noticed that it was disorganised. Communication wasn’t great and there wasn’t a great deal of organisation. The design and manufacturing people weren’t working together.”
“At the time the team president came to me to ask what we could do to make things more efficient. I looked at various software packages, and found that MindGenius did everything we were looking for — to plan and organise big processes and develop well-thought-through Gantt charts.”
“I found MindGenius intuitive and easy to learn quickly. We were able to download it and hit the ground running right away.”
“A lot of software packages have cumbersome user interfaces that are difficult to work with and that take a lot of time to learn, even if you are very capable. We needed something that we could start using right away. MindGenius gave us that ability. We could just get it and go. And I liked the level of support that came with it.”
“The software is also great as it teaches people who don’t normally appreciate these things the value of organised operations, and it helps make the design and manufacturing teams work together with one seamless schedule and one seamless project.”
“MindGenius really sparked an emphasis of the whole team to get organised and meet deadlines in an efficient manner. There was no more redoing work. Everything was planned and organised correctly. This represented a huge change in terms of the attitude of the team to project management.”
“We started writing down every component system in the car, from the high level down, breaking the car into as many sub-systems as possible. We then used the Gantt chart feature to map out how long it would take to create each component, and what components were needed before others.”
“We were then able to create a critical path, to understand what systems, and which had the longest lead time. MindGenius did a really good job of illustrating these.”
Gemma successfully passed the first year of her degree with distinction, maintaining an average of 73% throughout the academic year. The principles of mind mapping and MindGenius mind mapping software played an important part in this achievement.
Although studying chemistry, Gemma’s degree also requires her to cover a range of other subjects including math, biology and physics. It is important that the range and diversity of the coursework is well organised and planned in advance. Using MindGenius, Gemma was able to quickly record the details of each course, plan what would be required for each and then prioritise when they needed to be done.
“What you initially think is a big task really isn’t once it’s been condensed and planned using MindGenius.”
Like many students, Gemma found the studying process difficult due to the number of different subjects within her course and often struggled with where to begin. By mapping out all her subjects, Gemma was able to visualise the size of the task and understand how best to begin her revision.
Once Gemma had planned how to begin her revision, she continued to use MindGenius to map out her revision notes in order to deal with the overload of information from her different lectures and tutorials. Mapping out her work provided Gemma with the visibility she required as it allowed her to further understand each subject and therefore process and learn it to a greater degree.
Gemma also used MindGenius during her four-week group project to assist her in the planning and coordination of the tasks.
Gemma credits MindGenius as an important and crucial tool during her first year at university, and will continue to use it throughout the remainder of her degree. Strathclyde University has a site licence agreement for MindGenius that includes staff and student take-home rights. In addition, Strathclyde University ran a compulsory workshop for all students within the degree to ensure they were using MindGenius to its full potential and to encourage students to use it throughout their course.
“Due to my work I have a lot of tasks to do, and often used to find myself putting post-it notes everywhere. But since moving to this bit of software the project management features allow for me to sit and come up with a decisive plan which I can then share with others when different tasks need to be done — especially in the run-up to GSCE’s when every second of time needs to be utilised well.”
“Also being a Mac user, the ability to access the software through a web browser means I can work anytime without needing my planner, etc., to get stuff done.”
“I found when I was trying to coordinate my team and keep on top of the tasks I needed to do, I was making lots of notes and scribbling in a diary and then losing pages of crossing things out repeatedly. By removing the paper aspect of my work, I have also reduced the large amount of emails going back and forth — as the work is easily found and with others being able to update it as they complete tasks, there is an easy, obvious way to see the progress of the work being done.”
“I have been a long-time user and advocate of MindGenius since first discovering mind mapping in the early 90’s. I have used MindGenius extensively in the higher education sector with a range of student cohorts, undergraduate and postgraduate. I have found it can really transform a student’s ability to synthesize and structure their understanding of a range of topics, and it works particularly well with students struggling to get started with their assignments.”
“I have used MindGenius to structure and resource new projects and plan new educational programmes. I have also used it to solve messy problems — it is particularly useful for group brainstorming as ideas and solutions can be put on the screen as the brainstorming takes place, then re-arranged, prioritised, people allocated to tasks — and then the complete map can be exported to a document, presentation, project software, etc.”
“Once you get into using MindGenius Online, you actually start to realise just how much time and stress it saves you. You don’t have to worry about everything at once and have the inner battles about what work to do when, because MindGenius Online makes it all very clear for you.”
“The biggest difference is the motivation it’s given me to make sure I’m on top of everything the university is throwing at me. Staying in complete control is a lot more achievable. I can have the satisfaction of staying in control and at the same time the enjoyment of experiencing university life in the full.”
(Note: These comments were written while Dr. Marton was a fourth-year medical student at the University of Glasgow, preparing for her career in medicine.)
“In MindGenius Online, it’s simple for me take notes as the lecture is going on. I use the intended learning outcomes for each lecture as the template for my map, and then as the lecturer talks I can place the key statements linked in with the learning outcomes.”
“I have used mind maps to take notes in lectures since my first day at medical school. I initially started by using pen and paper. But often, like many unorganised students, I found that I would lose them, and get tea stains all over them. My other key issue, as doctors are known for, was my horrendous handwriting. Mind mapping on my computer resolved both of these issues.”
“The workload for medical students is renowned for being excessive, but MindGenius Online has proved invaluable. From taking my lecture notes, managing my studies for an exam, collating research, completing my dissertation and collaborating on group tasks, MindGenius Online has been able to handle it all. I even managed some time to have a social life.”
“MindGenius provides an ideal platform for members of the Project Services team to brainstorm and capture requirements for large and complex projects, including initial stakeholder requirements gathering right at the outset.”
“The team finds the MindGenius Gantt View extremely useful for seamlessly taking their projects from the planning stage on to the scheduling stage. This acts as a platform to go on to manage and review progress and status of each component part and every activity of each project.”
“MindGenius has brought a level of efficiency and consistency to the way we plan and manage our projects, with low investment costs and easy and intuitive use. We have over 100 people interacting with MindGenius in their project work.”
“The University of Stirling has subscribed to MindGenius for a number of years. The license is great because it permits all students and staff to a free download.
The software is not just a useful tool for disabled students eligible for DSA funding — it’s useful to all. Students find the software really helpful for exam revision and essay planning.“
What do you like best?
MindGenius is a user-friendly tool that provides a scaffolding for any planner. Whether a novice or experienced project planner or a junior high student completing a science fair project, this tool has templates and visuals to map out the path for the journey.
What problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?
I am a person who has multiple on-going projects simultaneously. The mind maps are a method for me to organize my ideas and steps so that they are also shareable.
For example, I was in charge of analysing faculty data sets on curriculum improvement plans. I aggregated the data and used the mind map to show the facets of the problem. I was able to then export this visual and share it with our Provost.
He then actually requested I make him other mind maps that he could use as visuals in Deans and other leadership meetings/conferences. It is a wonderful tool for identifying missing steps, links, or in just sorting through seemingly unrelated information. I guess I have used it a lot for data analysis without realizing that’s what I was doing.