This talk presents the story of MindMeister, from the initial idea in early 2006 to going live in April 2007. MindMeister brings the concept of mind mapping to the Web, using its facilities for real-time collaboration to allow truly global brainstorming sessions. Users can create, manage, and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. In brainstorming mode, fellow MindMeisters from around the world (or just in different rooms) can simultaneously work on the same mind map -- and see each other's changes as they happen. Using integrated Skype calls, they can throw around new ideas and put them down on "paper" at the same time.

Currently in private beta, MindMeister has received huge praise from beta tester users and bloggers around the world for providing application features that are comparable with full-graphic client applications while still maintaining highest usability standards. MindMeister is based on Rails and uses only standard browser technology such as DHTML, JavaScript, and Ajax.

Apart from telling the MindMeister story, the presentation will focus on:< br/>

• why usability should be the key focus of any Web 2.0 application
• how to get the most out of the possibilities of viral marketing
• the immense importance of automated tests in a distributed development environment