Learning Canvas

The Learning Canvas is a visual and structured tool designed to capture and process learnings from past experiences, similar in purpose to a lessons learned format.

It is intended to facilitate reflection on specific events, problems or issues to extract insights, define expected outcomes and plan future actions.

It is often used in agile contexts as a way to encourage continuous improvement based on experience.

Unlike a linear text format, its visual layout seeks to facilitate understanding and collaboration, especially when used in facilitated group sessions. It is a tool for turning reflection into concrete action.

Structure for Capturing Learning (Past and Future)

The Learning Canvas organizes information into key sections to guide reflection:

• Context: defines the framework of the lesson learned.
• Objective/Theme: What is the main focus of the reflection?
• Where/When: In what situation or at what time did it occur?
• Who Asked/Shared: Who initiated or contributed to this reflection?
• Facilitator(s): Who guided the learning process (if applicable)?
• Past: Analyze what happened.
• Problems/Symptoms: What difficulties, errors or signs were observed?
• Related Stories: What anecdotes or details contextualize these problems?
• Future: Project actions based on the learning.
• Ideas: What possible solutions or approaches emerged from the analysis?
• Expected Results: What do you hope to achieve with the new actions?
• What to Attempt (Actions): What concrete steps will be taken?

This structure guides the user or team from understanding the problem (past) to defining solutions (future), based on a clear context.

Facilitating Reflection and Continuous Improvement

The Learning Canvas is primarily a tool to facilitate structured reflection and turn it into continuous improvement.

By clearly separating analysis of the past (problems, stories) from planning for the future (ideas, actions), it helps prevent the discussion from just complaining or analyzing without moving on to action.

Its visual format makes it ideal for team sessions (such as retrospectives), where it encourages participation and shared understanding.

Documenting learnings in this way creates a repository (although, as mentioned in the sources, it should ideally be centralized and searchable) that informs future decisions and avoids repeating mistakes.

By focusing on "What to Try," it drives experimentation and adaptation, key pillars of agility.

Summary

The Learning Canvas is a visual and structured tool. It is designed to capture and process learnings from past experiences.

It is intended to facilitate reflection on specific events, problems or issues. It helps to extract ideas, define expected results and plan future actions.

It organizes information in key sections: Context, Past (Problems, Stories) and Future (Ideas, Actions). It is a tool for turning reflection into continuous improvement.