It's more of a visual brainstorming tool. It's kind of fun. There's some pseudo-science around it but it helps some people organize/visualize their thoughts (

It's more of a visual brainstorming tool. It's kind of fun. There's some pseudo-science around it but it helps some people organize/visualize their thoughts (studies apparently show it helps). UML is still around but really not much connection between the two. UML is for techies while mind maps are for everyone and not very structured or formal.