Introduction

Big companies don’t always win. This is the story of how smaller design tools beat a giant like Adobe by thinking differently.

What's the problem it solves?

Most companies try to win by adding more features. But newer tools like Figma and Canva showed that success comes from understanding what users really want and building around that. The article explains how picking the right “core idea” behind a product can be the key to winning-even against huge competitors.

Quick Summary

Adobe used to be the king of design tools. Everyone used Photoshop for editing images, making websites, or creating posters. They grew even bigger after moving to the cloud and updating faster. But then something unexpected happened: new tools like Figma and Canva started winning over users, even while Adobe stayed strong.

Why? Because the new tools weren’t just copies-they were built differently from the ground up. They chose the right “atomic concepts,” which means the basic building blocks that match what people are actually trying to do. For example, Canva wasn’t focused on pixels. It helped non-designers easily make things like Instagram posts or slides. Figma focused on helping big teams work together on product designs. Adobe couldn’t easily copy them because its tools were made for different goals and old user habits.

As design jobs changed-faster content, more team collaboration, more casual creators-new tools met those needs better. These tools were easier to learn, quicker to use, and matched the new ways people worked. That’s why they took over. And now, companies like Figma and Canva are growing into platforms with their own communities, templates, and plugins-making them even harder to beat.

Key Takeaways from the article

• Big companies lose when they can’t adapt to new customer needs.
• New tools win by choosing better building blocks that match real user tasks.
• Photoshop is built for image editing; Canva is built for fast content creation.
• Figma focused on teamwork and design for software products-not just single files.
• Canva made it easy for anyone to make good designs, not just pros.
• The best tools match how people think about their work, not just how computers work.
• Small use cases often grow big-smart companies spot this early.
• A product’s “atomic concept” shapes everything from features to marketing.
• Adding plugins and community tools can grow a product into a full platform.
• Platforms win long-term because they are hard to replace and grow on their own.

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