“The training is so good…whoever built that — your Academy — is one of the best knowledge creators out there.”

~ Director, Support Technology, Peloton


Project Overview

Ada’s rapid growth highlighted the need for a more scalable and effective customer education program. The existing system was mostly focused on basic tutorials, which didn’t dive into the deeper strategies customers needed. It also lacked cohesive branding and left customers relying too much on the Customer Experience team due to limited self-serve resources. On top of that, managing the Academy was becoming too manual and time-consuming.

During my time at Ada, I led a refresh of the entire program, creating clear, outcome-focused learning paths, repurposing content into bite-size, easily accessible videos, and making the Academy more inclusive and accessible. These updates not only reduced customer support tickets and boosted engagement, but also made the program easier to manage and helped the Customer Experience team see the Academy as a valuable resource for helping customers succeed.

Challenges identified

Initial program limitations:

  • Lack of structured, outcome-based learning paths for customers; training programs that focused on surface-level, point-and-click tutorials, without addressing the deeper strategies or why behind using the software
  • Lack of cohesive branding within the learning management system, leading to an inconsistent user experience
  • Significant manual work required behind the scenes to ensure proper functioning of the Academy, slowing down scalability
  • The need for enhanced accessibility and inclusivity across learning materials
  • Limited bite-size training content, making it harder for users to access quick, digestible learning

Stakeholder feedback: Customers, partners, and internal teams indicated a strong demand for clearer, more navigable educational resources and a more scalable training program.

Key actions taken

Creation of structured, outcome-based learning paths

  • Description: Redesigned Ada’s Academy to shift from simple “point-and-click” tutorials to strategic, outcome-driven learning paths that help customers understand the deeper value and use of the software. This involved
  • Outcome: Customers who completed outcome-driven courses had a better understanding of the software’s strategic impact and were 25% more likely to renew subscriptions. Course completion rates surpassed 80% and support ticket volume decreased.

Rebranding the Ada Academy site

  • Description: Worked with design and product teams to implement cohesive branding across the LMS, ensuring consistency in look and feel, which aligned with Ada’s overall brand experience.
  • Outcome: Improved brand perception and customer satisfaction with the learning experience, making it more engaging and visually aligned with Ada’s core brand values.

Automation of Academy site administration

  • Description: Automated various behind-the-scenes administrative tasks, streamlining the management of the Academy. This included automating the certification process and routine LMS tasks that previously required manual intervention.
  • Outcome: Saved a full day’s worth of work each week, freeing up the team to focus on content creation and program improvements.

Integration of accessibility and inclusivity standards

  • Description: Enhanced all educational materials to meet WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards, ensuring that content was available in multiple formats (e.g., text, video with captions, screen-reader-friendly documents).
  • Outcome: Expanded accessibility for a wider audience and enhanced inclusivity across all educational content, improving the overall user experience.

Creation of bite-size learning content

  • Description: Repurposed existing video content to create a public-facing video tutorial page, enabling Customer Success Managers to easily share targeted video content with customers. This gave customers quick access to actionable insights that addressed their immediate needs.
  • Outcome: Enhanced learner engagement and satisfaction, while fostering strong buy-in from the Customer Experience team by streamlining their ability to share skill-building videos, ultimately positioning the Academy as a valuable resource.

Impacts and results

  • Reduced support ticket volume
  • Increased course engagement
  • Increased retention for trained accounts
  • Cost savings and efficiency
  • Brand consistency

Skills demonstrated

  • Instructional design: Created strategic, outcome-based learning paths that transformed customer understanding of the software.
  • Branding and user experience: Aligned educational content with Ada’s brand to improve user engagement and satisfaction.
  • Project management & automation: Led initiatives that streamlined manual processes, enabling the education team to focus on higher-value tasks.
  • Collaboration and leadership: Worked cross-functionally with design, product, and support teams, while coaching a growing education team.

Additional videos

Check out some of the other videos developed as part of the Ada customer education program revamp.