What is Mind Mapping?
In the early days of shareware, I used an extremely cool tool called PC-Outline. The tool let me quickly capture ideas into an outline, then use keyboard shortcuts to move the ideas around and organize each idea under the proper category. I loved the tool for the time, but now we live in the future. So now, in our more graphic future I use visual outlining tools called mind maps.
Mind mapping is a brilliant visual way to brainstorm any topic. You start off with a central topic in the middle, and then add “branches” and “sub-branches” for additional related ideas, topics and subtopics. You can use the mind map program to quickly capture ideas, then drag and drop them to reorganize them. Mind mapping is great for brainstorming, planning, presenting, training and collaboration. You can see my other mind mapping videos here.
Why Amy Mind?
I have used many mind mapping programs over the years, but now that we live in the future, I find I am using AI more and more in my workflows. However, my current tool didn’t have any AI capability. So I started searching and I tried several. I eventually settled on Amy Mind because it had a very clean interface and, while it had great AI features, I could also use it like my regular mind map programs by just adding the content manually.
Using AI in AmyMind
So how does the AI work in AmyMind? The AI helps you in multiple ways.
- Mind Map Creation: Use the AI function to create your mind map for you based on a topic you choose. You get a beautiful mind map in seconds that you can build on instead of having to come up with each idea yourself.
- Chat with AI: You can chat further with the AI to expand on points.
- AI Ideas: The AI even gives you ideas to “spark” your brainstorming
Here is an example of what AmyMind created when I asked it to create a mind map I could use to help me teach people how to use AmyMind.
AmyMind Templates
While the AI is great at creating new mind maps for you, you can also access a number of mind map templates at the AmyMind website for inspiration, including business planning, SWOT, project management, study notes, etc. But honestly, I think you would have more fun and get better results asking AI to build your mind map for you.
Sharing and Exporting in AmyMind
You can quickly share any mind map in AmyMind by clicking on [Share] and then sending the link to the recipient. The recipient will be able to see the mind map without having to create their own AmyMind account.
For exporting, you can export to the following file formats:
- Image (.png)
- Markdown (.md)
- FreeMind (.mm)
- XMind (.xmind)
- PDF (.pdf)
- Word (.docx)
- PowerPoint (.pptx)
- Local file (.amymind)
So you have many ways to share your mind map.
Organizing Your Mind Maps
As your collection of mind maps grow, it can get difficult to find the mind map you want. AmyMind does allow you to have folders and I highly recommend you start by creating folders right in the beginning to organize your mind maps, so you don’t have to go back and do this later like I did!
Additional Tools:
AmyMind has some additional tools to help you bring your existing content into a mind map, including:
- Text to Mind Map
- Markdown to Mind Map
- PDF to Mind Map
- Word to Mind Map
- YouTube to Mind Map
While I haven’t gotten to try them all yet, I think the YouTube to Mind Map tool sounds particularly useful for creating learning guides from training videos.
Keyboard Shortcuts
I am a real fan of keyboard shortcuts (see my Windows keyboard shortcuts article) so I was pleased to see that AmyMind provides keyboard shortcuts for many of its functions. Just hold your mouse over the bottom left ? for the help section to see the shortcuts.
Documentation & Help
AmyMind has a user guide and FAQs on their website and has responded to my emails at AmyMind. I have also had a Zoom call with the founder and found him very approachable. However, they are a small team so it can take a while to get help.
AmyMind Use Cases
In general, I use AmyMind for:
- brainstorming
- planning
- coaching
- and training
Here are some more specific cases:
- Writing & Publishing; I am currently writing a contemporary fantasy series. I use AmyMind to plan out and outline the elements of each of the 3 books in the planned trilogy. I can quickly capture any new ideas and then drag and drop them to the correct book and organize them by the order that they will appear in the book. When an idea for a new book or series pops into my head, I add it to a separate mind map with all my story and book ideas. I also have a mind map created for my publishing and marketing plan for the series. You can sign up for notices of my upcoming fantasy and science fiction books here.
- Mastermind Sessions: I run a productivity coaching mastermind group called The Time Guild which has weekly mastermind sessions for our members. During the mastermind session, I take notes on what we talk about in AmyMind. After the session, I share the mind map with all the participants as well as the recording of the session.
- Coaching: Similar to the mastermind sessions, I use mind maps to take notes during one-to-one coaching sessions.
- Strategic Planning: Mind maps are great for planning out my next year, or even my next 5 years.
- Group Brainstorming: While I often use Gamma presentations (PowerPoint alternative) for training, for brainstorming, mind maps are king. You can quickly capture notes without thinking, then organize them afterwards just by dragging and dropping the points into the proper topic or subtopic. AmyMind makes it easy to share your mind map after the session.
AmyMind Pricing
AmyMind is very affordable. Their free version is generous with up to 20 mind maps and 5 AI-actions per day. Their AmyMind Pro version is only $45 per year with unlimited mind maps and 500 AI-actions per day.
Opportunities for Improvement
Of course, no software is perfect. Here are a few opportunities for improvement we see for AmyMind:
- Improve Collaboration: While AmyMind lets you share mind maps, it isn’t really set up to let multiple people collaborate on a mind map which some other tools do offer.
- Create a Community: Whenever I start working with a new tool, one of the first things I do is join a community for the tool if they have one. I find these communities are great places to learn about the software, see creative use cases and get peer support and learn from other users. These communities are sometimes on Reddit, Facebook, or as a forum attached to their main site. AmyMind is new, so I don’t see such a community yet,
- Organization: AmyMind has folders which is great, but I would find it useful if they also had subfolders for additional organization, especially for those of us who create mind maps for clients. This way I could have a folder for the client, then subfolders for Planning, Marketing, Training, HR, etc.
- Support: AmyMind has a small team so it can take a while to get help.
AmyMind Review Conclusion
In spite of the drawbacks, AmyMind is a joy to use. The AI component works well, generating entire mind maps in seconds. And AmyMind’s mind mapping capabilities match those of the much more expensive mind mapping programs I currently pay a lot for.
In conclusion, I highly recommend trying AmyMind and supporting a small up-and-coming software company that has made a great product! At the time of writing this article, AmyMind is my primary mind mapping tool. Want to see AmyMind and mind mapping in action? Book a discovery call with me.