Building the Future of Creative Education
OVERVIEW
Igniting Creativity in Classrooms Worldwide
Services
Content Strategy
Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD)
Data Analysis
Experience Design
Experience Engineering
Market Research
Migration and Modernization
Strategy Alignment
Workshop Facilitation
The Adobe Education Exchange is Adobe’s flagship learning and community platform for educators, serving as a global destination for creative teaching resources, professional development, and peer connection. With over one million members spanning K–12 and higher education, the platform helps educators integrate Adobe Creative Cloud tools into their curriculum through self-paced courses, workshops, lesson plans, and certification opportunities.
Wrecking Ball partnered with Adobe to lead a major build of the Education Exchange, rethinking its user experience, architecture, and engagement model. The goal: build a more intuitive, scalable platform that could empower educators to teach creativity with confidence, connect with peers around the world, and stay at the forefront of digital learning. The result is a powerful ecosystem where creativity, community, and professional growth intersect, designed for teachers, driven by data, and built for the future of education.
THE CHALLENGE
A Platform Ready to Evolve and Amplify Education
The Adobe Education Exchange struggled to keep pace with how educators discover, consume, and share content. Outdated architecture, fragmented user flows, and limited personalization held back its potential. The challenge was clear: transform the platform into a vibrant, intelligent ecosystem that educators could trust, use daily, and grow within.
THE SOLUTION
Designed for Educators, Engineered to Scale
Wrecking Ball provided a plan to grow with Adobe’s education mission to be modular, extensible, and ready for what’s next. We introduced machine learning to tailor content recommendations, streamlined navigation to reduce friction, and created a modular functionality that could evolve with the platform. Collaboration with Adobe’s internal teams ensured that every update aligned with the needs of the community.
Collaboration Through Discovery
Working closely with Adobe Education leadership, workshops, market research, usage data analysis, and educator feedback loops shaped every strategic decision, ensuring the platform was built around real-world teaching needs, not assumptions.
Human-Centric Design
A flexible design system built around needs, enabling new features, tools, and content types to be added seamlessly, adapting to how real users grow, teach, and evolve over time without requiring a full rebuild.
Scalable and Modular
Built to be flexible and scalable, the platform allows Adobe to introduce new features organically while supporting evolving educator needs without ever needing to start from scratch.
Smarter Recommendations
Introduce a custom machine learning engine to dynamically serve up the most relevant courses, resources, and discussions to each user, reducing discovery fatigue and boosting engagement
Helping Educators Find What They Need, When They Need It
Implement Elasticsearch to power fast, flexible, and highly relevant search across the platform. This allowed educators to filter and surface courses, resources, and discussions with greater accuracy, enhancing discoverability and reducing time spent hunting for the right content.
PROOF IN THE NUMBERS
Real Impact at a Global Scale
38%
boost in Net Promoter Score (NPS), reaching 61
User satisfaction and platform loyalty surged following the redesign, clear validation from the community.
4+
languages supported across global regions
Localized for educators around the world, making resources and learning more accessible across languages, cultures, and classrooms.
1M+
educators reached worldwide
The platform continues to scale, supporting creative teaching across classrooms, cultures, and continents.
91%
increase in teaching resource views by existing members
Educators explored more and returned more often, demonstrating improved content visibility and trust in the platform.
176%
increase in resource downloads by new members
A redesigned discovery experience made it easier than ever for educators to find and use high-value materials.
137%
increase in course views from new members
New educators didn’t just visit, they engaged deeply with course content at unprecedented levels.
We set out to craft an experience that leverages a machine-learning algorithm to recommend the best content, introduces powerful ways to showcase and connect with creative educators, and beautifully highlights the creative potential of using Adobe tools in the classroom.”
– Matt Niemitz
Former Principal Product Manager, Creative Cloud Education; GM, Adobe Education Exchange
Personalized Onboarding, Meaningful Connections
From the moment educators join the Adobe Education Exchange, educators are guided through a tailored experience based on their role, subject area, and teaching level. A guided onboarding flow helps new members quickly find relevant content whether it’s professional learning, certification pathways, or curriculum ideas for specific subjects or grade levels
Personalized Profiles That Power Collaboration
Each educator receives a custom profile that evolves over time, tracking learning progress, showcasing earned badges and certifications, and highlighting contributions to the community. This personalized space not only reinforces growth, but also invites collaboration, as members can connect with peers who teach similar subjects or use similar tools. The platform’s community features transform one-way learning into an active, peer-driven experience.
We didn’t just build a platform, this project was about giving educators the tools, support, and community they need to inspire the next generation. We turned a platform into a movement where they can learn from each other for creative empowerment.”
– James Begera
Executive Creative Director, Partner at Wrecking Ball
THE RESULT
Where Education, Opportunity, and Community Converge
The Adobe Education Exchange is more than a platform, it’s a living, evolving community where creativity fuels teaching, where educators find real support, and where learning becomes a shared experience. Through our collaboration with Adobe, we helped create something that doesn’t just deliver content, but opens doors.
Educators have access to a space where they can grow professionally, connect with peers globally, and bring creativity into their classrooms with confidence. The platform encourages exploration, celebrates contribution, and invites every user to not only consume knowledge but share it. By designing with intention and building for scale, we helped Adobe realize a bold vision: to give every educator the opportunity to teach, learn, and lead in a connected, creative world.
