Likelihood to Recommend MindManager is great in big change projects where a lot of meetings and decisions are being made over time. In that scenario there are likely a lot of other apps supporting dev, testing, etc. But MM is still more like Six Sigma than anything else in the market and there are still a lot of big companies with SS-like cultures where a strong core tool gets more buy-in. I think it's less valuable for shorter term projects.
Read full review I believe SmartDraw is a great tool for small- to mid-sized organizations for simplifying the production and management of org charts. We've also had the PMO experiment with the use of some of their flow charts as well. If an organization has an HCM with the capability of producing (good!) org charts, that is likely the best option... but many that I have used in my 30-year HR career don't. So there is definitely a need for SmartDraw in the market!
Read full review Pros Outlining Connecting/organizing similar items/ideas, etc. Helping me stay focused on the big picture of my novel instead of getting lost in the minutia. Helping me move from the big picture to the details when I need to. Organizing my daily/weekly/monthly/annual work projects. Read full review Provides examples to work off of--these are helpful when you don't know exactly where to start. Provides a number of stylistic options without making things too complex, so you can be creative without getting overwhelmed. Provides a wide variety of templates, meets a wide variety of needs. Read full review Cons It can be difficult to print your mind map in a font that is large enough to easily read. Certain features for first-time users are a bit daunting and there is a slight learning curve. The help options can be enhanced. Read full review A month-to-month plan would be ideal for users that don't have a need to create many projects The sidebar navigation can be a little confusing with all of the tools listed. Offering customizable plans with only the feature you need would simplify navigation Read full review Likelihood to Renew I feel the main issues of the old Mindjet seem to be gone with the Corel purchase. With the huge advance of sharing via browser HTML even 1 user can affect many. And, actually, using MM kind of forced my rigid brain to rethink how I categorize and classify information/projects.
The
idea of paying $69USD for an annual cost is more than fair and a great
model for Corel/Mindjet to keep rolling out improvements!
Read full review Usability MindManager is very intuitive. The user interface is not cluttered and the ribbon icons are easy to understand. Several excellent "how-to" videos are available on the MindManager site as well as on YouTube. MindManager starts quickly and the user interface is very responsive. Launching other programs from MindManager such as Excel is very fast and issue free. The browsing feature is lightning fast. The drag-and-drop capability is also very fast and reliable.
Read full review Reliability and Availability Almost perfect.
Read full review Performance The application is quick and responsive. We are able to produce mindmaps and reports with ease. The program is not complicated at all and integrates well with software and programs like Microsoft Outlook and Teams, which we truly appreciate.
Read full review Support Rating I have called technical support a few times. During the COVID Crisis, I called a few times repeatedly due to a rush request. The technical support guy called me back in minutes. He somehow knew that I had called repeatedly and wanted to make sure my issue was resolved immediately
Read full review They are always very helpful, we get computers every two years and I have to call them to move the license from one computer to another and they do it with a smile in their voice!
Read full review Online Training The videos are not well categorized...I had to do a bit of digging to get what I wanted and many videos on older versions. If Mindjet was to improve the titles used that would help.
Read full review Implementation Rating Wasn't involved but works great for me.
Read full review Alternatives Considered Both are equally good.
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is used to get the models in a more technical format in comparison to the MindManager. MindManager is easier to use in comparison to
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect . MindManager makes collaboration easy and can be understood by a layman and does not need to have specific software training.
Read full review We have used Corel Draw and Adobe Acrobat. Both of those tools were good when they came out but the abilities of SmartDraw far outweigh both those tools. Corel Draw was also more complex to operate and do tasks, as was Adobe Acrobat in which some basic tasks took additional steps to complete.
Read full review Scalability A team can collaborate on the same project but cannot create a shared project file. It would be helpful for that feature to be added.
Read full review Return on Investment When scope planning before I was introduced to this tool, I needed to make one master Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for the entire project and move on. With MindMapper, I typically generate about 20 WBS-like charts throughout the project, which encouraged conversation with staff members. The major key in such ease of use has been some well thought out and very intuitive keystroke planning that allows me to keep up with the free flow of ideas. This software's cross-functional capability allowed 10 engineers to create their projects directly within their own environment without use of a virtual machine. Read full review SmartDraw has provided good return for our internal purposes. Using it to understand an organization's structure and inner workings has been valuable. On the client side, creating steps and businesses processes has also been a big plus. It has helped decrease confusing reporting structures and has provided a detailed map for individuals to understand where they fit within their organization. Unfortunately, SmartDraw has been somewhat inefficient with some of the more complex projects on our plate and has really deterred certain employees from even wanting to use it. Read full review ScreenShots