Last night, Tim Leberecht and I attended the SF Web Innovators Network monthly event (coincidentally held at one of my favorite sushi places in San Francisco). What surprised me the most was how many people knew about Mindjet and were current users of MindManager. Granted, the event was for bleeding edge types — but it is a change from a few years ago when I really needed to have our elevator pitch handy. It got me thinking about the diffusion of an innovation such as mapping, and how that can be modeled and tracked.
While Crossing the Chasm and its predecessor Diffusion of Innovations are seminal works, the Technology Acceptance Model seems to be one of the most appropriate. Both the “perceived ease of use” and the “perceived usefulness” of MindManager are greatly enhanced by the fact that most people hear about it from someone they know. The product then arguably delivers on those promises and the cycle repeats itself.
If you have any suggestions for how we can make it easier for your colleagues and friends to try MindManager, please let us know.