FreeMind

I use FreeMind to first brainstorm, then document and systematize various processes related to my business activities. You can be as general or as granular as you choose, linking to websites, documents etc., to implement or collaborate on them.

The various graphic icons available allow you to create industry-standard flows which everyone can recognize and understand.

It's also very easy to import the most common mind-mapping file types, so finding cool mindmaps and editing for your own processes is a breeze. Plus, the price is right so if you're just getting your feet wet it's the perfect solution. Highly recommend.

Whenever I'm beginning a complex project, Freemind is my starting point. It's a way to start collecting random thoughts in a structured manner and see how all the bits fit together. I can then get a good overview of what I'm doing and turn it into something actionable. It's easy to start with some top-level concepts and then dig down to whatever level you need, then use arrows and links to see how everything interrelates.

My overall experience is quite negative. It's abandonware with little prospect of further development which means that this isn't a safe platform to rely upon for any core part of your workflow.

I use a lot of mindmapping in my work for planning and ideation, especially when developing new projects/products with education non-profits. I used to do all my mindmaps in Freemind and also to track the progress of some projects (not on daily basis as a to-do list, but for tracking deliverables, milestones, making sure something is not forgotten or missed). Recently I have been using online mindmaps for some of these, as I usually share some of the maps with other colleagues/clients, but actually if you combine Freemind with OneDrive or Drobpox and just put the mm file in the folder that you share with the client/colleague you get the same result. And since the app is free, works on various platforms and is easy to use, with clean interface it makes it easy to do mindmapping on the same file together. Furthermore, it does not ask to open any accounts, you can have unlimited number of maps, etc. which is really an advantage over the online mindmaps.

I've tried many mind mapping apps, also tried swithing from FreeMind to others, but each time I ended up using FreeMind. Simply the best mind mapping SW I've came accross.