If I've already decided on the technology, then I pretty much do what you do while trying to look for examples of it in use beyond the ones given in the docs. For me, I spend a lot more time researching the available libraries/technologies before hand that solve the problem I have then do a simple pros/cons comparison between them. That step allows me to see little benefits that I probably wouldn't pick up on immediately after jumping in.
If I've already decided on the technology, then I pretty much do what you do while trying to look for examples of it in use beyond the ones given in the docs. For me, I spend a lot more time researching the available libraries/technologies before hand that solve the problem I have then do a simple pros/cons comparison between them. That step allows me to see little benefits that I probably wouldn't pick up on immediately after jumping in.
Thats a good idea to make pro/con lists when choosing which lib to use.