Ideafli (which begins at $16 per month) is a mind mapping software solution that was built around the idea of the silent brainstorm. If you've ever sat around a conference room brainstorming with colleagues, then you've probably noticed that often one or two people dominate the conversation while others aren't heard much. As a result, good ideas often slip through the cracks. A silent brainstorm is meant to give everyone a voice. Rather than yelling out ideas, everyone writes down their ideas on Post-It notes for 10 minutes or so, and then shares them with the group. Next, the facilitator can start grouping together similar ideas and help to find themes. Ideaflip is a platform that allows groups to do this virtually so everyone doesn't have to be in the same room but everyone can still see and interact with the same screen. Remote members can call in via conference call or by using video conferencing software.

Pricing is simple: You can opt for a monthly subscription for $16 per user per month or pay annually for $165 per user per year. Enterprise plans start at $999 and offer custom options. A free trial is not advertised, but if you create a login, you'll get one that lasts two weeks. No payment information is required upfront. Paid users can invite as many guests to view and contribute to their boards at no cost. Guests can't create their own boards, though. You can create a unique login or sign-in by using your Google account. You can import your boards from GroupZap, which is a previous venture by the same founders.

When you set up an account, the setup process includes creating your first board, which is where you land when you first sign in. Click the Ideaflip logo on the top left-hand side to access the menu, which includes options to replay the tutorial, invite users, export boards, copy boards, and view help chat. This is where you can access your dashboard, which is a repository for all of your boards.

Ideaflip has a very simple and friendly user interface (UI); it hardly feels like business software at all. Once you've created a login, you're greeted with a blank canvas. A pop-up message walks you through the main features, which you can try out as you work through the tutorial. Boards are what you use to collaborate. There are three templates available: Plain, Backgrounds, and Swimlanes. Plain is freeform, Backgrounds offer a choice between SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis and Business Model Canvas (customized fields such as customer segments and revenue streams), while Swimlanes is set up as multiple columns.

You can export your boards as CSV, PNG, PDF, and XLSX files. You can also copy boards. There doesn't seem to be a way to change the name of a board after you've already saved it, though. Permissions can be set as Admin, Editor, Contributor, or View-Only. You can invite other users via email or with a link; there are separate links for each permission level. Ideaflip doesn't have mobile apps but it's tablet- and touchscreen-friendly. We were able to easily move and manipulate shapes on our Lenovo Yoga Pro 2.

You can import CSV and PDF files into boards; the former shows up as an image, the latter turns rows into notes. Help is available via a "Talk to Us" button (i.e, chat) and by phone, with separate numbers for the US and the UK. If you leave a phone message, Ideaflip guarantees a one-hour response time.

Once you've chosen a template, you can start dragging and dropping elements onto your board. It's very easy and almost fun to do. The first option is called Stationery Pads and basically looks like Post-It notes; just click one to add text. You can add a variety of shapes and colors, and you can also change the color and size of each element. In addition to textboxes, you can add arrows and lines of different shapes to make connectors, which stay connected even when you move items around. You can also add lines of text, buttons, and badges (e.g., smiley faces, checkmarks, thumbs up and down, stars, etc.), images and files, and snapshots of webpages. For the last one, you can simply enter a URL and a snapshot is automatically created. Our only complaint here is that the options on the right-hand side sometimes get cut off as you're typing and you can't resize the module. You can resize the web snapshot, though.

You can drag and drop your notes anywhere on the board; you can also lock notes in place to prevent others from moving them. On the top of the screen are thumbnails of each user on the board; you can click and drag your profile pic to designate your area of the board. If you're quickly brainstorming ideas, then you can simply start typing to add multiple notes, clicking "Enter" to separate each one. When you click "Add," it creates a stack of notes you can then arrange as you see fit. You can create groups of ideas by pulling a selection tool around elements you want to include. There are a few different selection tools including a freeform lasso tool. Once you create a group, you can resize it and give it a name, and drag it around to change its position on the page.

One cool feature is, you can copy any element in your board by dragging and dropping it on a Copy icon on the upper right-hand side; up to 10 items can be copied at a time. You can also trash elements by dropping them into the Trash icon on the bottom right-hand side. And an Overview window on the bottom left-hand side of the screen shows a small version of the entire board; this is where you can click through different groups. This is helpful since boards can get rather large if you've got a lot of collaborators. Exporting to XSLX lets you assign tasks to people. You can move your profile card and others' cards to items to assign as a task.

Ideaflip is a very intuitive and, if you have a lot of guest users, very affordable. It doesn't have analytics tools like Corso Innovation Management and Datastation Innovation Cloud (28.39 Per Month and Up at Innovation Cloud) have, but it more than makes up for that with its pleasing UI and flexible features.

Ideaflip is a great mind mapping tool for capturing ideas and building mind maps, though it lacks analytics tools that some teams may require.

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Ideaflip Review