Weekly Wonder: Designing Inclusive Events for Different Learning Styles

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Hi CUG Leaders!

Every group you bring together contains a mix of learners: folks who want to see the big picture visually, others who only “get it” once they’ve clicked through a workflow themselves, and those who learn best by talking it out with peers.

If your CUG events lean too heavily on slides and one-way demos, you’ll inevitably lose some of the room, even if the content is strong. Designing with multiple learning styles in mind (visual, hands-on, and discussion-based) helps more people stay engaged, retain what they’ve learned, and feel like your CUG is built for them, not just the loudest or most experienced voices.

Below are five practical ways to design more inclusive events that meet your members where they are without doubling your prep time.

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1. Start with clear learning outcomes, then map them to formats

Before you choose activities, get crisp on what you want people to walk away with: a concept, a workflow, a specific skill, or a decision. Once you’ve named your outcomes, you can intentionally support them with visual, hands-on, and discussion elements.

How to do it:

• Write 2–3 outcome statements for your session, such as:

  • “Attendees can explain our standard Jira project workflow.”

  • “Admins can create a basic Confluence template for project kickoffs.”

• For each outcome, design a quick trio:

  • Visual: diagram, screenshot series, or short slide sequence.

  • Hands-on: a mini exercise in your actual Jira/Confluence environment or a sandbox.

  • Discussion: a prompt for small-group or whole-room conversation.

This keeps your agenda focused since any activity that doesn’t serve at least one outcome is optional. It also helps you explain the value of the meeting to leaders and invitees: “In 60 minutes, you’ll see the workflow, try it, and discuss how to adapt it to your team.”

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2. Design visual anchors that make complex ideas “stick”

Visual learners benefit from seeing structure and flow. The goal isn’t beautiful design, it’s clarity. A handful of well-chosen visual anchors can make your content more inclusive without turning every meeting into a full production.

Practical visual elements you can reuse:

• Workflow diagrams: Show the end-to-end journey for a use case (e.g., intake → prioritization → delivery → reporting in Jira and Confluence).

• Before/after comparisons: One slide with “old way” screenshots and another with the “new way” using Atlassian tools.

• Checklists and frameworks: Simple tables or bullet lists that summarize steps (“Plan → Configure → Test → Roll Out → Iterate”).

• Live navigation map: When doing a demo, start with a single overview slide of where you’ll click (projects, spaces, dashboards) so attendees can orient themselves.

To keep it inclusive:

• Avoid overloading visuals with tiny text; prioritize big, clear labels and arrows.

• Verbally narrate what’s on screen (“On the right, you’ll see the board filter we’re using…”), which helps both auditory and visual learners connect the dots.

• Share the visuals afterward in your CUG space so people can revisit and annotate them with their own notes.

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3. Build short, guided hands-on blocks into every session

Hands-on learners retain more when they’re clicking, typing, and experimenting. Even in a short meeting, you can carve out 10–15 minutes where everyone does something concrete in a shared environment.

Low-lift ways to add hands-on time:

• Live “Follow Along” segments

  • Ask attendees to open Jira or Confluence before you start.

  • Walk through 3–5 specific steps (“Create a new page using this template,” “Add a smart link,” “Save one automation rule as a draft”).

  • Pause after each step and check in using chat or reactions.

• Micro-labs in breakout rooms

  • Give each group a tiny challenge: “Create a Confluence page that documents a sprint retro” or “Build a Jira filter that shows all work for your team this week.”

  • Provide a one-page instruction sheet so they don’t get stuck if they tune out for a moment.

  • Have each group paste links to what they created into chat for others to explore.

• Hands-on “try it later” assignments

  • For teams who can’t follow along live (permissions, environments, or time), offer a 5–10 minute mini-lab they can run after the meeting.

  • Include screenshots and expected outcomes so they can self-check their work.

By normalizing “hands on keyboard” time, you make it clear your CUG is about applied learning instead of just listening to presentations.

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4. Use structured discussion to surface peer expertise (and support verbal processors)

Discussion-based learners thrive when they can talk through ideas, ask questions, and hear real stories from peers. Instead of a single open Q&A at the end (where only a few voices dominate), bake in smaller, structured discussion moments throughout.

Ways to design inclusive discussions:

• Guided think-pair-share

  • Ask a focused question (“Where does this workflow break down for your team today?”).

  • Give 30–60 seconds of silent thinking time.

  • Have people share in pairs or trios, then bring 2–3 examples back to the full group.

• Role-based breakouts

  • Group admins together, PMs together, and end users together when possible.

  • Give each group a targeted prompt that matches their lens on the topic.

  • Ask them to surface one “win,” one “challenge,” and one question for the larger group.

• Chat-first contributions

  • Invite people to answer a question in chat before calling on anyone to speak.

  • Read out a few responses that show different perspectives (“We’re seeing both X and Y approaches here…”).

  • This supports those who prefer writing, are less comfortable speaking live, or are joining from noisier environments.

When you routinely create space for peer stories and questions, you not only support discussion-based learners, but also uncover use cases and patterns you can turn into future CUG topics.

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5. Offer multi-modal follow-up: recap, resources, and next steps

Inclusivity doesn’t end when the meeting does. Different learning styles and time zones benefit when you package your content in multiple formats people can consume later on their own terms.

Build a simple, repeatable post-event package:

• Written recap:

  • 3–5 bullets summarizing what you covered and the main takeaways.

  • Links to any Jira boards, Confluence pages, or templates you showed.

• Visual summary:

  • One screenshot of your main diagram, or a simple one-page “visual notes” style summary.

• Recording with timestamps (if allowed):

  • Mark key sections (“Intro & context,” “Demo,” “Hands-on lab,” “Discussion highlights”) so people can jump to what they care about.

• Try-it-yourself checklist:

  • A short list of actions attendees can take in the next week, aligned to what they saw and practiced.

  • For example: “Create one new Confluence page using the meeting notes template,” or “Set up one automation rule for your next sprint.”

This follow-up supports attendees who need to review at their own pace, helps those who missed the live session still benefit, and gives you ready-made assets you can reuse in future meetings or onboarding.

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When you intentionally design for visual, hands-on, and discussion-based learners, you move your CUG from “presentation series” to “learning community.” The same 60-minute block can include a clear visual journey, a concrete exercise in your Atlassian tools, and space for members to share how this looks in their real work.

Over time, that mix helps more people feel seen, builds confidence across different skill levels, and turns your events into something teams rely on, not just something they attend when they have a gap in their calendar.

As you plan your next CUG session, try this: pick one upcoming topic and deliberately add one new element for each learning style: a stronger visual, a short hands-on lab, and a structured discussion prompt. See how it changes the energy and feedback from your members, and iterate from there.

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Public Resources You Can Share with Your Group

• Atlassian University – Free Training & Tutorials 

  • Short, product-focused courses that can serve as inspiration for your series topics or pre-work for attendees.

• Work Life by Atlassian – Teamwork & Collaboration Articles 

  • Practical articles on team rituals, facilitation, and collaboration that can inform how you structure your recurring sessions.

• Atlassian Team Playbook 

  • Ready-to-use plays for running retrospectives, health monitors, and other team activities that make excellent recurring series formats.