Mind Mapping is a excellent visual method of representing & classifying ideas and a structured approach to brainstorming. Mind mapping involves identifying a central idea and then drilling down on various aspects related to that idea.

For example, If I were to plan for my vacation and analyze my options. Here my central idea would be "Vacation Plan" or "Vacation Places". Then I would try and drill down to the immediate sub categories which is type of vacation and then to the places available to me.

So the drill down would depend on your target for the breakdown structure. In the example mentioned above, I also have the option of drilling down based on the duration of the trip (short, long, weekend break etc...) or budget (>25k, < 10k,>50k etc...)

Why should you mind map?

• It takes you away from trying to prioritize the idea as you would do in a list
• Enables a free yet focused discussion on ideas and allows drill down to all possible options
• Visual representation allows you to recall better.
• Effective way to study, understand and explain complex concepts in a concise format

Tool:

There are a large variety of tools available for mind mapping. One of my personal favorites is XMind, a free and open source mind mapping tool. It has a great, intuitive GUI along with options to convert your mind maps to tree structure graphs and fishbone diagrams. Additionally, it allows you to export the diagrams to image, word, PPT and a host of other export options.