Although the mind mapping techniques have been around for 30 years I have not heard much about their effectiveness in knowledge assimilation. But I watched my colleagues using it often (especially in trainings). If anything, the technique forces you to organize the information in a logical order from one word. The visual presentation with a hierarchial mapping is supposed to help the mind store the information in neat patterns and help easy recall.

Some empirical studies suggest limited short term impact for written material. That said, I have decided to try out this technique and see what it is worth for. Luckily there are free mind mapping apps available so I don’t have to sit with a blank A4 paper every time. I have started with a tool called freemind. Will post my experiment results later.