How to make a mind map

Summary

In this guide, you will learn:

• What a mind map is and how Miro's tool helps organize and structure ideas collaboratively
• How to start a mind map in Miro with a central concept as the parent node.
• How to branch out with child nodes and customize them.
• Tips for defining a clear central idea and adding a focus question.
• How to use Miro’s AI assistant to quickly create and expand mind maps.
• Ways to organize and align your mind map using Miro’s Auto Layout.
• Collaboration features including sharing and exporting your mind map.

Understanding mind maps

Mind maps are simple yet powerful diagrams for quickly jotting down your ideas and expanding on them. And with the right tool, they can be the perfect outlet for any brainstorming or ideation session. We’ve prepared the ultimate guide to what a mind map is, including all its key benefits and how you can get started.

Let’s dive in.

What is a mind map?

A mind map is a simple but powerful diagram that outlines your ideas in a visual format. Creating a mind map adds structure to your thoughts, giving you a clearer picture of every idea and how they relate.

Mind maps usually contain a central idea placed in the middle of the diagram, which you can break down and expand on using branches — typically represented by lines. This simple format makes mind mapping especially great for brainstorming and ideation.

For example, let’s say you’re creating a mind map about product development. You’d write ‘Product development’ in the middle of your map, and probably add branches that each point to one of the following sub-ideas:

• New features
• Customer feedback
• Market trends
• Competitor analysis

You might also want to connect some of your subtopics to each other. For instance, if you have customer feedback about a new product feature that aligns with trends in the marketplace, you could connect these two ideas to highlight their relationship.

Why use mind maps?

We know what a mind map is — but what makes them so effective? Simply put: the way a mind map is structured mirrors how the human brain works. Every time a piece of information enters your brain, it gets added to a complex neural network made up of central nodes connected by smaller branches.

In other words, it’s exactly what a mind map is.

Unlike note-taking, for example, which requires you to list your thoughts out linearly, mind mapping makes it easy to process your thoughts holistically — just as your brain does. It allows you to identify multiple thoughts at once and instantly draw connections between them, making it ideal for activities like brainstorming and ideation.

We’ll cover the specific benefits in more detail in the next section.

What are the benefits of mind mapping?

Mind mapping offers numerous benefits that can enhance learning, productivity, and creativity. Learning about these advantages helps form a more solid understanding of what a mind map is. Let’s take a look:

Generate new and creative ideas

Mind mapping is a great way to encourage innovative thinking and develop new ideas. The visual format encourages teams to break free from conventional thinking patterns and venture outside the box. It also helps teams generate new ideas by building on top of contributions from other team members. For example, if someone suggests an idea for a new software feature, it might spark a new idea for someone else.

Make complex ideas easier to understand

A mind map is a simple way of breaking down a complex idea into smaller, more manageable parts. Think about a website launch as an example. There are many complex and technical elements to planning a website launch, but a mind map helps you break it down and visualize how all the different parts work together.

Effective planning

Mind maps are excellent tools for planning projects, outlining articles, or creating strategies — providing a visual roadmap that helps communicate the entire scope and sequence of a project.

Improve collaboration

Mind mapping is an excellent place to start boosting team collaboration. It helps teams work together by encouraging open communication and discussing new ideas. Collaboration becomes even easier if you use the right mind mapping tool. Miro, for example, comes with powerful live and async collaboration tools. You can tag team members in comments, upload visual notes, and easily add your mind map to presentations.

What type of projects are mind maps used for?

Mimicking the way our brains naturally associate and connect ideas is what a mind map’s design is all about. This makes them an effective tool for brainstorming, problem-solving, and strategic planning. Below are some common scenarios where using a mind map is helpful.

Project ideation

Use a mind map to generate new ideas for upcoming projects. You can discuss what type of projects you should run, why they’ll benefit the business, and what those projects should involve.

Process improvement

Mind maps help you identify new ways to improve your existing processes. Think about HR processes as an example. You could use a mind map to figure out how to improve onboarding or streamline the hiring process.

Product development

Mind mapping can help you generate new ideas for product development. You discuss new product features, upgrades, and other relevant improvements to your current product line.

Problem-solving

If you and your team are facing a problem, using a mind map can help you find new ways to solve it. For example, if you have a high customer turnover, you can use a mind map to identify the cause of the problem and devise a solution. Because mind mapping encourages creative thinking, it also helps teams develop solutions they might not have thought of otherwise.

Take your meeting minutes with a mind map

Forget the linear, word-for-word transcripts. Mind map note taking turns meetings into visually engaging sessions. You start with the meeting's central topic and branch out with key discussion points, action items, and decisions. This method isn't just about capturing information; it's about making sense of it in real time. Here's why it's a game-changer for meetings:

• Real-time capture of ideas: As ideas emerge, you can quickly add them to the mind map, ensuring nothing gets lost.
• Visual organization: See the connections between different discussion points, making it easy to understand the flow of the meeting.
• Enhanced focus: The visual structure helps keep the discussion on track, preventing tangents and ensuring key topics are covered.
• Collaborative note taking: Everyone can contribute to the mind map, fostering active participation and shared understanding.
• Actionable outcomes: Visually highlight action items and assign responsibilities, ensuring clear follow-through.

Concept map vs. mind map: What’s the difference?

To properly cover what a mind map is, it’s important to consider what it isn’t. And it’s common to confuse mind maps with concept maps. That said, there are key differences.

A concept map focuses on the relationships between concepts, while a mind map focuses on a single core idea. Teams use concept maps to define how ideas relate to each other and to understand complex subjects.

Let’s use software development as an example of how a concept map helps teams to understand complex topics.

For teams to understand how to improve a piece of software, they need to know how it operates, which is where a concept map helps. It shows all the elements of the software and how they connect in a clear structure. As a result, teams can understand how the system works and identify areas of improvement.

Concept maps also use a hierarchical structure. The core concept sits at the top of the diagram, with related ideas underneath. The concepts are connected with lines or arrows, which are labeled to explain the relationship between them.

Tip: Think you need a concept map instead of a mind map? Save time with our free and customizable Concept Map Template.

How to make a mind map in 5 steps

In this how-to, we will share five simple steps on how you can make a mind map that meets your needs, including key considerations when selecting a mind mapping tool. Additionally, we will demonstrate how to create a mind map from scratch, using our Miro AI in the video below.

Let’s get started.

1. Define your central idea

Learning how to make a mind map starts with having a central idea we want to expand on. Here are a few tips to help you identify your central idea:

Identify the purpose

Think about why you’re creating the mind map in the first place. Are you brainstorming ways to improve your website? Are you coming up with ways to increase sales? Having a central topic will help you make sure that any ideas you add to your mind map are always relevant.

Keep it clear and concise

Keep your central idea clear, concise, and easy to understand for everyone working on the mind map. This means using a few words of simple language to convey what the main topic is. For example, if you want to come up with ideas to improve your website, your main topic might be ‘website improvement.’

Use a focus question

Although the main topic is short and sweet, you can add a focus question to provide additional context to your mind map. For instance, going back to the website improvement idea, your focus question could be, “How can we attract more traffic to our website?”

Though it’s a little longer, it still communicates a clear focus to tie all your ideas back to.

2. Branch out from your central idea

With your central concept in place, you can now branch out and add ideas that relate to it. Let’s use website improvements as an example again. Some of the related ideas you might come up with for this mind map include ‘search engine optimization,’ and ‘social media campaigns.’

From there, you can continue branching out and adding more related ideas. For instance, under ‘search engine optimization,’ you could branch out and add ‘create new content’ and ‘optimize existing content.’

Tip: Want to run a brainstorming session where every participant gets a chance to share their idea? Use our free Brainwriting Template to set your team up for success. Or, if you want to power your ideation, use our AI mind map generator.

3. Customize your mind map

After adding all your ideas, take a second to customize the layout. It’s not only a chance to add structure to your thoughts but also to emphasize your brand’s unique style — which might come in especially handy if you’re presenting your mind map externally. Here are some examples of how to make a mind map pop:

Use colors

Colors are a simple but effective way to categorize your ideas. For example, all marketing ideas are green, while sales ideas are blue. At a glance, your team can see which ideas relate to which department.

Add images

Images can provide additional context to some ideas on your mind map. For instance, if you have an idea about how a product should look, you can use an image of a similar product to help your team visualize the concept.

Group similar ideas

Keeping similar themes close together in your mind map is a good idea. That way, when planning your next steps, it’ll be easier to identify similar themes and topics.

In Miro, for example, you can easily drag your ideas around, rearrange branches, and add sticky notes to label your groups — all in a matter of seconds.

4. Get feedback on your mind map

Depending on the goal of your mind map, you might want to get some feedback on it. Share your mind map with teammates, clients, or anyone else who can share any relevant input that’ll bring you closer to your goals.

Using a tool like Miro makes it especially easy to share your mind map — whether you want to invite others to leave comments on your board, share a link, or export your mind map.

Pro tip: Want to present your mind map without having to schedule another meeting? Use TalkTrack to record interactive audio and video walkthroughs that your team can watch and comment on in their own time.

5. Create a plan of action

Once you’ve finalized your mind map, use it as the foundation for your next steps. Try one of Miro's action plan templates to identify what you need to do to bring your new idea to life — whether that’s by creating and delegating tasks, or creating a roadmap.

For instance, if your mind map generates ideas for new product features, you might create a product development roadmap. If you’re hoping to improve an internal process, you might create a process map instead. It all depends on why you made the mind map and what you wanted to achieve.

Create a mind map in Miro

Now that you know how to make a mind map, it’s time to create your own.

Miro makes it fun and easy (and free!) to get started. Our Mind Map Templates are not only fully customizable but also comes with automated diagramming tools — allowing you to quickly expand on ideas and connect them.

Want to create one from scratch? Drag and drop shapes, lines, images, sticky notes, and more. With plenty of customization options, powerful collaboration features, and an infinite canvas to work on, the sky’s the limit. Sign up for Miro to get started.

Author: Miro Team Last update: December 16, 2025