| ★ APPLICATIONS ★ DIVERS ★ BRAINSTORM ★ |
BRAINSTORM (Amstrad Action) | BRAINSTORM (Computing with the Amstrad) |
Get your mind into top gear BILL AGNEW takes a thoughtful look at Brainstorm, a program designed to produce structured ideas BRAINSTORM from Caxton is effectively an electronic scratchpad which can be used to create structured lists of items from random jottings and to show the relationship between them. Basically, you decide on a topic and make a list of the main issues, then take each of the issues and make a list of key points. Then you detail each key point, create further descendants from them, and so on. The topic, the issues, the key points, and (say) one set of details - in that case, four levels. BrainStorm will help you delve deep, planting your thoughts at each level so that they stand a chance of sprouting into other levels, while noting any ideas that recur. The result of your ideas session can be examined at any time on screen, or sent to printer - in which case BrainStorm will indent each level appropriately, thus providing a visual feedback of structure. The attractive glossy black packaging, with its logo of The Thinker really sets the mood to enjoy the program. Unfortunately, mood isn't everything, and my first twenty minutes of BrainStorm were nearly my last. My initial discovery was far from enjoyable - different meanings for the PCW's keys instead of the comfortably dedicated LocoScript set-up. To have to give up the hard-won mastery of the keyboard was hardly welcome. And in addition to getting used to an unfamiliar keyboard configuration there were a dozen or so special controls to learn - Control + D = Next, Control + H = Hunt (Search for), and so on. However, BrainStorm awaited and I persevered. On the whole, it was worth it. So, what are the benefits of this ideas processor, supposedly the greatest thing since pencil and paper? Brainstorming is a well-tried technique used in group work for generating ideas. Everyone says the first thing that comes to mind on a given topic, and these random ideas are noted down, usually on a blackboard or something similar for everyone to see. They are then put into some kind of order by the group leader, and the brainstorming and ordering continue until all ideas are exhausted. BrainStorm the program works in a similar way but is meant to be used by an individual rather than a group. Of course, it does not generate the lateral thinking and cross-fertilisation of group interaction, but it does incite you to dig into your own personal construct, with your own logic, and to make connections between ideas. It invites you to take a topic, and look into it at the next level down. From that level, one item may lead into the next level and so on, practically ad infinitum. In this way BrainStorm provokes the development of thinking, using keywords to take your thought process to the next level - and in doing so, attempts to clarify structure and content for you. You do the brainstorming, and Brainstorm tries to help you do the ordering. Take a look at Figure I: The levels are rather like the headings in a filing system. Into each of them you can put your list of details, and any one of these can be extended at the next level, as shown in the example for levels 4 and 7. Note that level 3 is not only the Phase, "Mid-career refreshing", but also the "Review and redesign" - a simple example of what is called recursion, and one which could of course be taken much further. How does all this happen in practice? As soon as a word is put in, the model implicitly questions its meaning, position, content and relevance. It may, for instance, show you the relationship between a parent idea and its descendant - something you may well otherwise have missed. This is a useful discipline, often fun but sometimes rather disturbing - the mental construct of your expertise may not be as straightforward as you thought. To start you off, Caxton have included some sample constructs -diary, address book and program design. They also invite users to let them know of other applications. BrainStorm provides a unique aid to the hierarchical development and structuring of ideas in depth, and at £49.95 is cheap if you are the kind of person who generally finds it hard to get some order into those brilliant concepts that flood from your brain day and night. BILL AGNEW, CWTA |
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