Monday, February 8, 2010

...visual thinking: part I - mind mapping...

Today I had a presentation about Mind Maps, as the first part of the Visual Thinking presentation we prepared together with Rachel.

Mind mapping is a useful technique developed by Tony Buzan. It helps to activate ones brain and can be used for many different purposes: learning, self-reflection, brainstorming etc. Buzan wrote many books, not only on mind mapping but also speed reading, mnemonics etc. In this video on YouTube he describes basic rules behind mind mapping. I believe that by practicing drawing mind maps one can actually master this technique following Buzan's rules. However, as usually, I would like to adapt his concept slightly - 'one word per branch' rule does not always work for me... and I also like to limit the colours range a bit.

Here is my personal mind map on mind mapping :-)



We finished today's lecture with a little mind map drawing exercise: we formed pairs, went downstairs to the canteen and while enjoying tea, coffee and chitchat, each person created mind map about their assigned partner. I hope the group enjoyed the activity. Their created awesome mind maps which has been displayed on the back wall of iMedia Lab :-)



I encourage everyone to try and draw a few mind maps e.g. about themselves, their interests, their plans for following months etc. You can find plenty of online tutorials showing how to draw mind maps. I like this particular video explaining the basics. The most important piece of advice: do not be afraid of the white blank page in front of you! Those who are not keen on hand drawings might try one of the available mind mapping software :-) Good Luck!

More resources on Visual Thinking on our Wiki page.

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