Loosing Site

There are some activities that are immensely suited to web applications. I’ve run a few brainstorm sessions in my time. I’m more than familiar with the rustle of flip-charts and the smell of marker pens; but although the process is dynamic, paper can be such a static medium for generating ideas.

Bubbl.us is a web application that aims to make brainstorming simple and creative. The interface is attractive and uncluttered. The features a kept deliberately limited, with the focus on the generation and organization of ideas. You won’t find links, copious notes or uploaded graphics here. This is for optimized for brainstorming, rather than mind-mapping or concept mapping.

Using the application you can:

• Build multiple hierarchies of ideas in the same diagram.
• Cross link ideas within and between hierarchies.
• Export your diagram in XML, HTML, PNG or JPEG formats.
• Collaborate on shared diagrams.

Organizing and re-organizing is a dream. You simply drag an idea onto its new parent to create a link. Having the zoom feature operate relative to the mouse position is an excellent idea that makes navigating large diagrams much easier.

Bubbl.us is ideal for planning the structure of small to medium web sites. The hierarchies correspond well to core navigation links, while the directional cross linking is useful for identifying important secondary links, or for describing how we intend users to flow towards goals.