MindGenius launches 2018 version with promise of six appeal

EAST KILBRIDE, Scotland - April 24, 2018 - PRLog -- The UK-based company, whose business productivity tools are used by more than 600,000 clients in 160 countries, is seeking to grow its market by adding a series of new features and functionality.

MindGenius 2018, launched this week, allows users to quickly see information from different perspectives with the addition of dynamic views and the ability to quickly switch between them. Map, tasks, resources or Gantt views help orientate the information in the most useful format dependant on need.

Combining elements of mind-mapping with Gantt techniques - a bar-chart based means of graphical illustration - and Kanban, a Japanese system of inventory control, MindGenius helps business professionals, teachers and students to capture and visualise information easily, turning ideas into project plans and tasks.

It is currently used by a range of companies and organisations, including the Scottish Government.

Last year MindGenius launched Barvas, a cloud-based version of its software, accessible round the clock and from any browser, to meet the changing nature of demand from some users.

Ashley Marron, the company's CEO, said the desktop software remains its top seller and that the new version has been developed in response to feedback from customers.

He said: "MindGenius has always been a product that combines mind-mapping and project management functionality. There's an untapped market of users who use it for managing businesses and products but who don't see themselves as mind-mappers.

"We're confident the 2018 version has enough that's new to suit both groups and we're particularly excited about our new brainstorming function that really takes the product to another level."

With modernised graphics and visuals and a greater number of pre-loaded templates, users are better armed with best practice with ready-to-use roadmaps for popular projects.

The most ambitious addition is the creation of a powerful method for problem solving and innovation that breaks down thoughts into six "parallel" or "lateral" areas, it allows a spectrum of thought, from gut feeling to data analysis, to be separately discussed. By using these six types of thinking in a structured way, groups can more effectively approach problem solving.

Based on a colour coded question set, the structured discussion will allow business leaders and project managers to review the impact of their actions in advance from a series of different perspectives.

The system of parallel thinking that helps members of a group consider objectives from six different angles or 'thinking roles' including considerations of fact, management, creativity, values and benefits, emotion and judgment.

Each thinking role is identified with a symbolic colour and by mentally relating to the colour, group members can easily focus or redirect thoughts, conversation, or the focus of meetings.

Mr Marron said: "It's a theory that's widely used in business management and it's been demonstrated that companies can achieve a more effective return on their investment if staff separate their thinking into these clear functions and roles.

"Users can look at any part of a project or the entire project from several perspectives, with the click of a mouse.

"There's no shutting down one window and opening another required. The process is simple and straightforward and entirely intuitive."