My suggestion would be to take a design on a usb stick and stitch out the same design on 3 or 4 machines. It could be a simple 2 or 3 color design. It will take you some time and effort, but you will experience how the color changes work etc. Then you will discover that some machines do things differently and you will discover what really appeals to you.
On my Pfaff 2140, that I've had for many years, I love that I can go back to a particular stitch number or color number and start stitching again. (incase of a break in thread etc).
I'm getting ready to sell my Pfaff, so that I can get a new Pfaff that has the USB stick.