                               IdeaFisher
                          Review by Judy Litt

IdeaFisher is:

        -Inspiration
        -The computer equivalent of brainstorming
        -What anyone who must come up with new ideas needs

IdeaFisher is not:

        -An outliner
        -A substitute for your gray matter
        -An omnipotent being who will write all your advertisements, speeches, and reports for you

        IdeaFisher is a software program that lets you bounce ideas off of
it. There are two parts to the program. The QBank and the IdeaBank. You can
start a problem solving session by using either part; if you like, you can
even combine the two.
        I often started with IdeaBank. I do graphic design for a living, and
I regularly design advertisements for one of my clients. Very often I have
an idea in my head of what I want to do, but it may take several days or
weeks before that idea coalesces into an actual ad. Enter IdeaFisher.
        My mission: design a Christmas ad for my realtor. I wanted to
picture her as a Santa's helper; so I clicked on the icon for the IdeaBank
and typed in Santa's helper. This returned several topics: Christmas/New
Year's/Hanukkah; help/aid/assist; etc. I chose Christmas/New
Year's/Hanukkah, which returned with several section titles: People/Animals;
Things/Places; Verbs; and so on. You get the idea. When you choose a topic,
you get a list of words related to that subject. Double clicking any word
adds it to your idea notepad.
        The purpose of the idea notepad is to jot down ideas - not just the
ideas that IdeaFisher gives you, but the ideas those ideas trigger. In a few
minutes, I decided to make the background for the ad a gift box with a large
bow. The headline for the ad read: "Carole Phillips gave all these people a
gift they'll enjoy for years. Their home. Want to see your name on this
list? Call 878-5600". Without IdeaFisher this ad would have taken several
days to design, rather than one.
        QBank is an assortment of questions designed to help you accomplish
certain tasks and solve certain problems: new product, product improvement,
name development, marketing strategy, etc. Once you have chosen the topic
you're interested in, you'll be presented with a list of questions. There
are questions underneath the main questions; you can display just the main
questions or all of the questions.
        Answer as many of the questions as you like. Once you're finished
answering the questions, you filter them - IdeaFisher will provide you with
a list of key concepts from your answers. You can go on to the IdeaBank with
the key concepts that interest you.
        IdeaFisher is totally customizable. There is a toolbar across the
top of the program; you can add, delete, and rearrange any icons that appeal
to you. You can also assign hot keys to different functions. You can add
questions to QBank and words to IdeaBank.
        There are four add-on modules available for IdeaFisher: strategic
planning; speech and presentation; business and grant proposals; and
consultant's. These modules give you more questions for QBank on the above
topics. I was able to look at all the add-on modules except for the
consultant's; I'd say they're worth the money if you have need of those
topics. All the modules except the speech and presentation, which costs $79,
are $99.
        I had read about IdeaFisher in several different places before I had
the opportunity to review it, I wanted it, bad! Now that I've had the chance
to review it, I'm not disappointed. I'd recommend this software to anyone
who works with words or pictures, owns a business, runs an organization,
etc.

                          IdeaFisher Systems, Inc.
                             222 Martin Street
                                 Suite 110
                              Irvine, CA 92715
                               (800) 289-4332
       
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