Introducing SeraphNote - Thought Mapper

Today, we explore my concept of a thought-mapping application SeraphNote.

An example project of using the tool to map thoughts and opinions, backed up by known facts.

The Concept

The idea behind this tool is to create an effortless way to add ideas and opinions to a virtual notebook and to connect these ideas to facts, sources, and other items on the screen.

How it works

I wanted to create something more interactive than a mind map or a flow chart program. I want each idea, thought, fact, topic item, source, or quote to be its own thing - a thing that can be dragged, edited, and connected to other things by relationships that can be named, referred to as map nodes.

Having a busy mind myself, I wanted to simplify the process, based on the concept of:

Less distractions and fewer hindrances -> More ideas captured.

The closer I can make it to a user jumping in and using the tool without previous knowledge, using its abilities like someone with professional experience, the better.

By dragging and dropping these nodes, thoughts can be laid out and edited in a way that cannot be done on paper. And with this being a purpose-specific tool, I wanted to enhance the user experience to be as intuitive as possible, without having to navigate complex tools and strip options to select the type of lines and shapes. I also want to minimise the number of buttons or mouse clicks possible to facilitate a busy mind struggling to put ideas down whilst in a flow state of mind.

I originally intended the tool to have a separate window for editing each category of node placed onto the map. But this turned out to be tedious on smaller screens. So the new version has a simple single window, and tabs that appear when a relevant node type has been selected. This reduces screen clutter and simplifies the learning time to understand the tool.

I am also looking into how ot use a pandas database, so allow ther nodes to cross link to clones of the bnodes on other diagrams within the same project. This allows for each node to be a living, breathing representation of a piece of information captured, so that they can interact in a way they cannot on paper, showing links and relationships, and drawing comparisons in a fun and easy way.