What is a mind map? Definition and example

How a mind map is built

A mind map starts with a central topic: the subject, question or project the map is about. Main branches come out of it for the biggest parts of the subject, and each branch can hold its own subtopics, nested as deep as the idea needs. Reading the map from the centre outwards goes from the general to the particular.

What it is good for

Because every idea has a place beside the ones it belongs with, a mind map shows the shape of a subject at a glance. That makes it useful for brainstorming, taking notes, planning a project or an essay, and revising. A map holds the same content as an outline, but laid out in two dimensions instead of one list. The guide on mind maps and outlines compares the two.

How it differs from close terms

A concept map links many ideas with labelled lines and has no single centre. A spider diagram is usually the same idea under another name, or a looser sketch of it.

Making one

You can draw a mind map on paper, or make one in an app, where branches can be moved, folded and exported. The mind map maker makes one in your browser, and the how to make a mind map guide walks through the steps.

Example

A student revising photosynthesis writes it in the centre, adds main branches for inputs, outputs, the two stages and where it happens, then lists the details under each one, such as light, water and carbon dioxide under inputs.

Related terms

• Central topic: The central topic is the single topic at the middle of a mind map, the subject that every branch and subtopic in the map belongs to.
• Main branch: A main branch is a topic attached directly to the central topic of a mind map, and it heads one major part of the subject with its own subtopics below it.
• Subtopic: A subtopic is a topic placed under another topic in a mind map, holding one detail, example or part of the idea above it.
• Concept map: A concept map is a diagram of concepts joined by labelled links that read as statements, such as "plants make glucose", and it can be a network with no single centre.
• Spider diagram: A spider diagram is a diagram with a topic in the middle and related ideas on lines around it, like the legs of a spider, and is closely related to a mind map.
• Outline: An outline is a list of items arranged in levels, with each indented item belonging to the item above it, so the whole reads from top to bottom.

See it in a template

Brainstorming mind map template