Whether it’s planning projects or creating a mouth-watering menu, we’ve all been in a situation where we have a fantastic idea, but we aren’t sure how to bring it to life.
Luckily, there’s a simple solution you can use here: mind maps. 🧠✨
In this article, we’ll show you 25 practical mind map examples you can use for inspiration, along with showing you how to mind map.
This Article Contains:
- What is a Mind Map?
- 25 Useful Mind Map Examples (+ Real Use Cases)
- 1. Project management
- 2. Business strategy planning
- 3. Software/Product development
- 4. Manufacturing and logistics
- 5. Finance
- 6. Marketing campaigns
- 7. Website management
- 8. Outlining complex articles
- 9. Brainstorming
- 10. SEO testing
- 11. Taking notes
- 12. Planning an event
- 13. Teaching mind mapping
- 14. Organizing for essays and exams
- 15. Preparing a meeting agenda
- 16. Property renovation
- 17. Human resources
- 18. Book and media summaries
- 19. Planning and executing goals
- 20. Time management planning
- 21. Planning a restaurant menu
- 22. Managing risks
- 23. Preparing for an interview
- 24. Healthcare Non Profit
- 25. Negotiation Rules
- Time To Branch Out to ClickUp
Let’s get mapping!
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat is a Mind Map?
A mind map is a type of spider diagram, a visual tool that helps you discover relationships between each concept and structure information.
To build a mind map diagram, you first choose a central idea or main topic. The main topic will have branches that connect it to other linked subtopics, and you repeat the process until you have a literal map of your mind!
Summarize this article for me please25 Useful Mind Map Examples (+ Real Use Cases)
Here are more than 20 creative mind map examples you can use today:
1. Project management
The mind-mapping process makes it easy to break down complex ideas or project plans. Especially the ones that have documents that can run into hundreds of pages.
Some of the distinctive branches in your project planning mind map can include:
- Project management approach
- Project scope
- Communications
- Cost management plan
- Schedule management
- Quality management
- Risk management plan
- Resource management
A mind map will help you flesh out these plans so that nothing falls through the cracks.
Where can you build a mind map?
A notebook? Nah.
Say hello to ClickUp. 👋🏼 😄
It’s one of the world’s highest-rated productivity tools, loved by numerous teams worldwide, and the easiest mind map tool you’ll find.
Why?
Because all it takes is one click to switch the Mind Map view and start creating your mindmap!
Oh and did we mention that ClickUp’s Mind Maps come with two modes for added flexibility?
Here’s what you get:
- Task mode: quickly reorder your Workspace by drawing branches and organizing them into logical paths. You can also directly create, edit, and delete tasks (and subtasks) right from your Mind Map
- Blank mode: create free-form Mind Maps that don’t connect to any task structure or workflow. You can quickly convert them to tasks in any List in your Workspace
Here’s how one of our mind map samples for project management looks like on ClickUp:
Need more information on how mind maps can be useful for project management?
Read our ultimate guide to visual project management to understand this.
2. Business strategy planning
Business planning and mind maps are perfect pairings like hot cocoa and marshmallows.☕️💕
Why?
Business planning can have scary volumes of information that only a simple mind map can handle and make it look easy peasy.
Use the strategy mind map to launch your new endeavor and manage your processes like a pro. And when you’ve envisioned it all, treat yourself to hot cocoa and marshmallows to celebrate new business beginnings.
This business management mind map example should give you an idea of where to start:
3. Software/Product development
A mind map is a great substitute for a flow chart when designing your software product.
Use it to plan the software architecture, features, development phases, and more. You can even get into the specifics of development and create mind maps for the different stages.
Here’s a mind map example that shows you the typical stages in software development:
⭐️ Pro tip: with ClickUp, you can use our Proofing features to collaborate on different software designs effortlessly.
4. Manufacturing and logistics
If you’ve been in the manufacturing industry, you must have heard about the 8M’s principles.
If you haven’t, it’s a comprehensive checklist of essential factors you need to consider, such as:
- Machine (technology)
- Method (process)
- Material (raw materials, consumables, and information)
- Manpower (physical work) or Mindpower (brain work)
- Measurement (inspection)
- Mother nature (environment)
- Management/Money Power
- Maintenance
Use a mind map to branch out of these aspects to add more details to your planning.
Here’s an example mind map diagram:
Need help managing resources for your team?
Check out our ultimate guide to resource management.
5. Finance
Want to create a budget to buy a car, go on a vacation, or retire?
A mind map is an easy way to outline all of your expenses and investments.
And if you run a financial planning firm, you can create a mind map to represent the plans you’ve developed for your clients. Bye-bye spreadsheets and paper files!
Need to get started right away?
Try ClickUp’s accounting and finance project management template.
6. Marketing campaigns
A marketing project action plan is crucial for any organization as it could pretty much make or break your success.
After all, you need to promote your offerings to get people to notice your brand, right?
With a mind map, you can create the ultimate visual outline, plan and organize all marketing activities and strategies, and so much more.
Here’s an example of a mind map that contains content, social media, and other marketing channels for efficient marketing planning. We’ve used a different color for each branch to differentiate the various marketing channels. 🎨
Bonus: Check out our guide on marketing project management! ⭐️
7. Website management
Planning and managing a website is no easy task.
You need to take care of its design, and functionality, create content and do so much more to ensure that the website is optimized and represents your company in the best light possible.
Moreover, it can seem like a foreign language to people who aren’t familiar with coding and this can make it difficult to convey what exactly you have in mind.
This is when a mind map comes in handy.
Create a visual outline for your virtual team and improve visibility on everything that needs thinking and planning by using a mind map as a checklist for your web development team. Here’s a mind map example for website management:
8. Outlining complex articles
While there are various ways to manage a content workflow process, content production and planning can sometimes be messy. Mind maps can be a great way to map out your business’s content marketing efforts.
Tamara Omerovic, content marketing manager at Databox, shares how she uses mind maps to plan out complex long-form content pieces.
“This approach has shown great results when it comes to ranking content for multiple keywords. I often use mind maps to plan 3 things: the pillar page content outline, supporting content, and internal linking between the cluster pages.
“I start from the primary keyword and then branch it out until I cover the entire cluster. I make a note of all long tail keywords that require separate pages to support the pillar page, and later on, I use the mind map as a reference for internal linking (going backward, from H3s to H1). It can also help you map out the URL structure.”
Check out her mind map for a pillar article on business reports.
Bonus: Learn more about managing content marketing projects with ClickUp.
9. Brainstorming
Ideas pop into the minds of smart people.
But you know what’s smarter than smart people?
A brainstorming session with your team!
A smart group putting on their thinking caps, collaborating on a mind map to generate different ideas.
Can you imagine the possibilities? 🌈✨
Not to mention a mind map’s very creation can spark a new idea or two.
That’s why it’s an excellent tool for brainstorming, even for personal needs.
From evaluating a new product idea or generating a central topic for a blog post, a brainstorming mind map can help!
Here’s a mind-mapping example for a new product idea:
Not sure how to collaborate with your team to find the best ideas?
Here are effective brainstorming techniques to employ.
⭐️ Pro Tip: if you’re looking for more ways to collaborate with your team, try out ClickUp’s Docs.
Create as many documents as you want with Rich Text Editing and work with your team in real-time.
Bonus: Check out 10 AI Tools for Mind Mapping and Brainstorming in 2023
10. SEO testing
Complex data-driven processes sometimes require a visual element to make it easy to understand. The workflow for SEO split testing is one example of this.
Daria Sherr, marketing manager and scrum master at Semrush, shares her mind map example and how her team uses it.
“We often create easy-to-understand mind maps to explain the more complicated topic, such as SEO tests, to our employees or prospects. This way, we can show the process without getting into too detailed and complex explanations. Also, this is the first step before turning our visuals into infographics which we then share on our social media. I suggest everyone use mind maps in their roles to align their processes or even their own thoughts before presenting them to anyone.”
Learn more about managing your SEO project workflow in ClickUp.
11. Taking notes
While listening to a lecture or attending a meeting, do you take notes in a notebook?
Okay. And when you refer to the notes later, do they make sense? 🤔
You try to recall what you learned, but your memory holds you back. Let’s put an end to these I-Can’t-Rely-On-My-Memory stories with mind maps, as all of your notes originate from related ideas or topics.
Check out this guide for more memorization techniques!
For example, let’s say the topic of cells comes up frequently during your biology lecture.
Here’s a mind map template idea for your lecture notes:
Need help with taking meeting notes?
Read our guide on how to take meeting notes effectively.
⭐️ Pro tip: the easiest way to stay organized even with hundreds of related topics is with mind-mapping software like ClickUp. It also has a Notepad in case you start missing your regular notebook or hand-drawn mind map. 😉
12. Planning an event
As beautiful as it is, event project management can be a breathe-in-a-paper-bag type of stress to plan.
For instance, let’s take the case of a wedding.
There’s the enormous guest list, catering, decor, changing moods of the bride and groom, etc.
You also better pray for the bride and groom not to have cold feet, or your wedding day schedule is as good as no schedule. 🙄
However, a mind map, especially in software like ClickUp, can make it all less stressful because it’s easily editable.
If the groom wants blue curtains and the bride wants white roses, just add them to the mind map.
Here’s an example or template idea that you can tweak and adapt for any sort of event.
Want to learn more about managing events? Read our ultimate guide on event project management.
13. Teaching mind mapping
Did you know mind maps are an excellent tool for teaching?
Teachers and the education management industry can use the technique to explain topics better. And it isn’t just for teachers.
Students can also use mind mapping to learn, study, brainstorm, take better notes, etc.
Later on, they can use mind-mapping ideas throughout their lives for project plans, creative thinking, finances, hosting meetings, and more.
Finally, you’ll learn something in school that’s useful for everyday life, unlike trigonometry. 🙄
⭐️ Fun tip: use a mind map to teach the mind mapping technique to students!
14. Organizing for essays and exams
Additionally, private tutor Caitriona Mc Tiernan of TPR Teaching uses mind maps as an organizing tool for exams.
“Since mind maps feel less constricting than other kinds of planners, they give me more space to think freely and broaden my thoughts. Sometimes mind maps can take a lot of time to create, so using a graphic organizer such as a fishbone diagram can be helpful,” she said.
She shares an example of how students could study or write an essay on the topic of Ancient Egypt. This mind map would consist of sub-topic areas, for example pharaohs, culture, economy, and everyday life.
15. Preparing a meeting agenda
Meetings need prep, or you’ll miss discussing important topics and might hear a lot of “Uhm…” and “what else do we need to discuss?”
That’s a total waste of time.
And since mind mapping is a great tool for planning, structuring, and organizing information, preparing a meeting agenda becomes a lot easier.
What do we need on the agenda? 🤔
The objectives, attendees, topics…
All of these aspects and more are covered in this simple mind map example.
Use it whenever you have to plan a successful meeting and capture detailed meeting notes.
⭐️ Pro tip: with tools like ClickUp, you can directly share your mind map with all participants ahead of time. Simultaneously, you can write down any action items discussed in the meeting in our Notepad and directly convert them into tasks.
Download our meeting minutes template to use when running your meetings.
16. Property renovation
Renovation and construction projects have many details to consider.
There’s design, construction, budget, workers, vendors, equipment, materials, permits… oof!
Taking five to breathe.
Fortunately, you can use mind maps to manage these aspects with ease.
Create branches for preparation, kitchen, exterior, bathroom, technical, and all other details you need.
Take a look at this mind map to get an idea:
Learn more about construction project management here.
17. Human resources
For an HR department, the main idea is to select and recruit talent effectively.
The quality of the research and headhunting needs to be top-notch. But a messy process won’t help.
No worries! Just set clear HR KPIs, and visualize your entire recruitment process, starting from market information research to scheduling interviews and onboarding, all on a mind map.
Here’s a simple onboarding mind map example for HR professionals:
⭐️ Pro tip: plan your HR needs on ClickUp’s Mind Maps. And when it’s done, you can easily track how candidates progress in the recruitment or onboarding process with ClickUp’s Gantt Chart.
Oh, you can also use our Zoom integration to hold job interviews right from ClickUp.
You’re welcome. 😇
Not sure how to perform effective onboarding?
Check out our guide on how to welcome a new team member.
18. Book and media summaries
Did you know you can use mind maps to create summaries for books, audiobooks, or any other sort of multimedia course?
These summaries make it easy for you to review them later.
It’s simpler to spend a few minutes flicking through a one-page mind map that highlights the main concept than to skim through an entire book. Again!
Writing down the main points and the central concept of a book will also help strengthen your understanding.
Here’s an example that you can use as a template for your book summary:
Additionally, Randall Englund, project management educator at Northeastern University as well as the executive consultant of the Englund Project Management Consultancy often uses mind maps with co-authors to plan and prepare book chapters.
“We decide the contents for each chapter, move topics around, and determine action steps by owners. These mind maps are included in the final published books as an aid to readers about the contents,” he said.
That way, each topic is highlighted and expanded, while at the same time keeping the topic visible within the larger context.
Bonus: Mind Maps vs. Concept Maps 🤩
19. Planning and executing goals
Want to climb up the corporate ladder or just the stairs of your building without panting?
They’re both goals that need planning to execute.
But where do you start?
First, you set SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Whether it’s personal, career, fitness, or family-related, every goal you think of should agree to the SMART clauses.
However, the central theme to achieving any goal is to turn it into smaller steps. And this is exactly where a mind map shines.
Use a mind map to set a broad goal and branch out into smaller, more manageable goals. Don’t forget to define OKRs for more details.
Here’s a simple mind map template example to achieve your goals:
⭐️ Pro tip: an easier way to set and track goals is to use ClickUp’s Goals. It automatically updates your goal progress as you hit smaller targets toward achieving your goal.
20. Time management planning
Some people seem to make the most of their day and make it look like they have 25 hours. Ugh.
Did you go ugh too?
Then, you need to consider time management techniques.
Easiest technique: plan your tasks and activities on a mind map that allows you to structure your schedule every week.
Divide your weekly plan into days and then branch out depending on priority. You’ll have a good vision of what you need to do first and what you can do later.
Here’s one of the easiest mind map ideas for a weekly time management plan:
Pro tip: we’ll do you one better with ClickUp’s Native Time Tracking. It can accurately show you how long you spend on each task or activity. Time management 101!
Try it. You won’t have to wish for 25 hours in a day.
Bonus: Raci Chart Examples!
21. Planning a restaurant menu
Ever go to a fancy restaurant just to see a menu with no pictures?
Or with names that you can’t pronounce and have no description of the dish?
Worst of all, the menu is shorter than your patience when it comes to waiting for food.
If you’re a restaurant owner, you have the ultimate power to make customers happy by planning a good menu on a mind map! 😇
Think of the best dishes and beverages that might be appealing to your customers and add pictures, so they know what to expect. (Visual representation induces cravings 🤫)
Here’s an example idea for a restaurant menu mind map template:
22. Managing risks
“Causes” and “consequences” are two things you need to keep in mind and in a mind map. Since a mind map is a great tool to brainstorm, you can easily visualize all the potential risks.
Use it to identify, assess, and address risks.
This prediction and preparedness will save you time, money, and other damages.
Here’s a risk management mind map you can tweak to fit your organization and save as a template for future use.
Go take control of what happens and be ready for everything that comes your way! 💪
Bonus: Learn about the best risk management software!
23. Preparing for an interview
Oh, the excitement, the stress, the butterflies… how does one contain it all?
As exciting as an interview is, it can make it difficult to focus and prepare.
If you really want to make a good first impression, try the mind mapping technique.
Note down everything you need, from answering the treacherous question, “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” to the last detail you need to know about the company.
Here’s a template that already has all the aspects you need to consider and those that didn’t cross your mind.
24. Healthcare Non Profit
Jami Yazdani, certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) at Yazdani Consulting & Facilitation, shares a mind map example taken from an exploratory session related to implementing project processes and workflows in a healthcare nonprofit.
The mindmap was used to consider current and possible workflows and brainstorm ideas to address the buy-in challenges identified.
Bonus: How to make a mind map in Google Docs!
25. Negotiation Rules
This mind map created by Randall Englund of Englund Project Management Consultancy depicts the Ten Rules of Negotiating. It shows the mindset and behaviors that are essential for this career skill and then drills down into detailed activity.
Explore his mind map and other charts here.
Summarize this article for me pleaseTime To Branch Out to ClickUp
There you have it, 20+ mind map examples that can help you sort through your thoughts, plan projects, and achieve your goals.
What’s the next step?
Unfortunately, just looking at mind-mapping examples isn’t going to help you achieve things in life—no matter how hard you envision it.
What you’ll need is a solid action plan to make things happen.
To create an action plan, you’ll need to create your own mind map and work towards each branch. And while you could create a mind map on paper in Word or Excel, sometimes paper mind maps can’t survive brainstorming. ☔
But with a mind-mapping tool like ClickUp, your thoughts and ideas can weather any brainstorm that comes your way.
Get ClickUp for free to experience a mind mapping software that can help bring any mind map example to life.
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
