Like science gateways, an education gateway should provide research and management support for a community of practitioners working collaboratively to solve a set of challenging problems. While the technical aspects of the cyberinfrastructure play an important role in the utility of a gateway, they are not sufficient to attract users who are new to collaborative, online scholarship. Over the course of the development of the Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis (QUBES) gateway we have learned to adapt our services and messaging to reach out to our target audience and recruit their participation. Part of this process has involved aligning our services with common project management challenges and being aware of the opportunities and constraints faced by teaching faculty. Adopting a client-centered approach has made it possible not only to build our user base, but to foster important conversations among users around promoting a shared culture that supports scholarly approaches to teaching.