How software brought mind mapping to millions.

A question worth asking

I first came across mind mapping in 2014, and in 2016 I trained with Tony Buzan, the inventor of mind maps, to become an authorised trainer. Throughout that time one question kept nagging at me. This powerful technique for thinking and learning was introduced to the world in the 1970s, so why has it attracted so much interest, and such a broad base of users, particularly over the last 15 years? What exactly happened to make it spread so widely and become so popular? After all, paper and coloured pens were all you needed to learn the technique. These materials, easy for anyone to get hold of, had always been there. So what changed to bring user numbers into the millions?

What changed

As someone who has spent his professional life in the IT sector and followed technological developments closely, I did not find it hard to see the link between the arrival of mind mapping software and this surge of interest. Looking back at the history of these tools, around 2006 there were only four or five, all of them desktop applications. Although those first desktop applications were very good, there were still barriers to wider adoption: mind maps were stored as files on individual computers, several people could not work on the same map, and user licences were expensive. On the mobile side, there was no software at all yet.

Technological progress then transformed mind mapping software into web-based tools that take advantage of cloud technology, allow maps to be shared and are available on more affordable subscriptions. At the same time, many apps were developed for mobile devices.

Together, these developments allowed mind maps, long well known but never widely adopted, to spread and to be used in every field.

Why Foramind exists

That is the gap Foramind (For A Mind) was built to close. We first developed it in Türkiye, in Turkish and English, for people who wanted to use mind mapping but were held back by cost or by tools available only in a foreign language. Alongside the software, we began building a digital library of ready-made mind maps that anyone could learn from.

Now we are bringing Foramind to the UK, with a focus on students, teachers and tutors. Our aim is the same as it has always been: to introduce this powerful learning and thinking technique to as many people as possible, and to give them software that makes it easy to use. We believe that is how mind mapping will reach its next million users.