Mind map examples you can study

A chapter map: one branch per theme

The good version of a chapter map has three to five first-level branches, one for each theme, with short parallel labels under each. The rule it demonstrates is that a branch carries one idea and the detail lives in node notes. The failed version has a branch for every page.

Build it from the Study Notes starter, one of 13 templates in four categories, and rename the branches for your chapter themes. Detail goes into the rich notes on each node, and the fixed set of 7 node icons plus remove is enough to mark a section to reread. The chapter guide walks through the build.

The rule to steal from this example is the parallel label. Sibling branches should be the same kind of phrase, so scanning the first level gives you a list rather than a mixture. Here is the study mind map template that the example starts from.

• Three to five first-level branches, one per theme
• Sibling labels in the same grammatical form
• Detail in the notes, a flag icon on the sections to reread
• The failed version has a branch per page

A project map: owners and deadlines

A project map puts people and dates in the notes and keeps the structure in the labels. Branches are workstreams, children are the tasks inside them, and the node note holds the owner and the due date. The rule is that a label describes the work and a note describes who and when.

The Project Plan starter gives the same frame, and the map is clearer when you trim it: a template is designed to be edited, and the workstreams you do not have should be deleted rather than left empty. The good example has a visible rhythm down each branch.

The failed version puts the owner in the label. "Priya to review draft" is a label that means one thing today and something else after a handover. A two-line note per task holds the name, the date and the link, and keeps the label to the work itself.

• Branches are workstreams, children are tasks
• Owner and due date live in the node note
• Delete the workstreams you do not have
• The failed version names the owner in the label

A brainstorm map: many equal branches

A brainstorm map has many branches and every one of them is the same size. That equality is the rule: no idea gets a longer branch than another, because length in a map reads as importance. Twenty ideas should sit as twenty siblings at the first level, with an icon or note carrying the detail.

The Brainstorm starter, one of the 13 templates, is built for exactly this, and the 8-color palette gives you a way to group the ideas afterwards: one color per theme applied to a whole group. The good example has five colors spread across twenty branches.

The failed version ranks ideas by making three of them deeply nested. It looks like a considered structure and it is actually a priority order smuggled into the shape. Rank the ideas in a note instead, and the map stays flat.

• Twenty ideas, twenty siblings, all the same length
• The 8-color palette groups ideas after the session
• Node icons mark the idea you want to keep
• The failed version nests three ideas deep

A team map: people and links

A team map has people as branches and cross-links doing the work. Each person is a node with a note describing what they own, and a link tube between two nodes shows who depends on whom. The tree shows the reporting lines and the links show the actual hand-offs.

The note holds the context: responsibilities, the decision a person is waiting on, the meeting where the work was agreed. Cross-links are drawn between any two nodes with no label editor, so the node note has to say what the link means. The 3D stack can put people on one layer and projects on another, with trace mode showing the links between them.

The failed version draws every relationship as a branch instead of a link, which produces a tree where people are also projects and the map stops being readable. The cross-links guide covers when a link beats a branch.

• People are branches, responsibilities are notes
• Link tubes show the hand-offs the tree hides
• No label editor, so the node note explains the link
• The failed version turns relationships into branches

A map that failed: too many levels

The failed map in this set has six levels of depth on a single branch. It is a full set of notes copied into a tree, which is the most common way a mind map goes wrong: everything is kept, and the shape says nothing. The rule is depth. Three levels is usually enough.

Fixing a deep map is mechanical. Lift the over-deep children with Shift+Tab until the branch is three levels deep, and move what you removed into the node notes, which hold up to 80,000 characters each. Then press A to clear manual positions and re-run the layout.

A map that size is also slow to read, which is the other symptom. Collapsing branches with the chevron gives back the overview, and the minimap with M shows where the mass of the map sits.

• Six levels of depth on one branch, all of it notes
• Three levels is the working limit
• Shift+Tab lifts, A re-runs the layout
• Collapse the branches to get the overview back

Note: Everything in the failed map is still in the map, which is the point: the content was fine, the structure was not.

The rules the five examples share

Across the five maps the same five rules do the work. One idea per branch. Sibling labels in parallel. Detail in the notes, not the label. Color used to mean something. Depth kept to three levels. The examples are different jobs, and these are the rules that make each one readable at a glance.

The fifth rule is the one people skip. A map can be perfect in content and useless in shape, and the shape is what the reader sees first. Press A after any big change to clear manual positions and let the layout rebuild, and L if the tree orientation is wrong for the job.

When you are done with a map, export it. A finished example goes out as PNG for a document and SVG for something that has to be scaled or edited further, and Markdown or OPML 2.0 keeps the structure as text. The export guide compares the formats.

• One idea per branch, and siblings in parallel
• Detail in the notes, color with a meaning, depth to three
• A re-run layout after any big change
• Export as PNG, SVG, Markdown or OPML 2.0

A checklist you can reuse

• The map has one idea per branch, and no filler branches
• Sibling labels are parallel and readable on their own
• Detail, dates, owners and quotes sit in node notes
• Every color on the map means something
• No branch runs deeper than three levels
• A template was used as a starting shape and trimmed to fit
• The finished map is exported as PNG or SVG

Common mistakes to avoid

• Copying a template without trimming it. An untouched template shows you a structure that belongs to someone else's job. Delete the branches you do not have before you start filling it in.
• Letting branch length rank the ideas. A long branch reads as an important branch. In a brainstorm, keep every idea the same length and let the notes carry the detail.
• Everything in the labels. A label that carries a name, a date and a sentence cannot be scanned. Push the detail into the note and keep the label short.
• Using links for structure. A link is a relationship, not a place for content. When a map needs links to hold the structure, the structure belongs in branches.
• Judging a map by its content. A map can hold everything and still be unusable. Read the shape from a distance, and fix the depth before you add anything else.

Frequently asked questions

Which template should I start from for my own map?

Pick the one whose job matches yours. The 13 starters cover business, education, personal and brainstorming work, and among the education ones there is Study Notes, Essay Planning, Book Summary and Reading List. The guide to choosing a template walks through the match, and the wrong match is easy to fix by deleting branches.

Can I see these examples as images?

Any map you build in Canvasola can be exported as PNG, a rasterized version of the map, or as SVG, which stays sharp when it is scaled. Export the version you built and compare it against the rule each example teaches, since the shape is the part that is hard to judge from a description.

How do I keep an example map from becoming a template I keep copying?

Treat each finished map as the evidence for a rule rather than as a shape to reuse. The chapter map shows parallel labels, the project map shows notes carrying owners, the brainstorm map shows equal branches. Copy the rule, and build the structure for the job in front of you.

Is a mind map with fifteen first-level branches acceptable?

Sometimes, and it depends on the job. A brainstorm with fifteen equal branches is fine because the branches are parallel and short. A chapter map with fifteen branches is usually one theme split into several, and the map will be clearer once you merge the ones that are really the same idea.

This guide is part of the mind mapping guides collection. For the wider product tour, read the complete Canvasola guide, and keep the keyboard shortcut cheat sheet open while you work.