Mind maps and brainstorming sessions are two techniques used to generate ideas and develop projects as they allow you to categorise and visualise concepts quickly and easily. They can be used for all sorts of things but if you are designing a website, trying to sort out ideas for a project, planning a business, or writing an essay mind maps help clarify what is what.

Bubbl.us is a free browser based mind mapping tool. You can create an account and be mind mapping out an idea within minutes as the interface is intuitive and easily understood if you are familiar with the concept of mind mapping. Even so Tech-bites has produced a tutorial on Bubbl.us Basics or they have a small video online

Once a mindmap is built you can save them for access later, share them so you can collaborate with someone on a project or export them as a jpeg graphic file.

If you are interested in mind maps How to make a mind map in 8 steps is a quick step by step article that covers the basics. Basic introduction to mindmapping fills out the topic a little more and is an excellent resource and from the same site Mindmapping helps you be creative AND get things done shows you how to take it a step further.

Tony Buzan is the a writer who developed and promoted the use of mind maps. His books are well worth reading but as an introduction to the topic you can also find him on YouTube