Canva co-founder Cameron Adams gained important insights into building technology while working on Google Wave, a communication tool that combined messaging, document editing and real-time collaboration. Despite its ambitious features, the product struggled to attract users, teaching Adams that even innovative technology needs to meet users’ needs to succeed.
In a recent interview with the BBC World Service's Business Daily, Adams reflected on how the experience shaped his approach to building products, including Canva, which he co-founded with Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht in 2013.
Why did Google Wave fail?
Google Wave was designed to bring email, instant messaging and collaborative documents into one platform. It introduced features such as real-time typing and the ability to edit content together, but its wide range of functions proved difficult for many users to understand.
In August 2010, Google announced that it would stop developing Wave as a standalone product because it had not achieved the expected user adoption. The service was eventually shut down in April 2012, although some of its technology continued to influence other products.
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{{/usCountry}}Reflecting on the experience, Adams told the BBC that Wave combined so many capabilities that it confused people. Despite its impressive underlying technology, users struggled to see how it fitted into their everyday lives.
"Sometimes the world isn't just ready," he said, explaining that timing and luck also play a part in whether a product succeeds.
How Google Wave influenced Canva's approach
The experience stayed with Adams as he moved from Google to entrepreneurship. He later co-founded Fluent, a collaborative email startup that attracted around 80,000 prospective users almost overnight. However, the unexpected demand created a financial challenge. According to Adams, accommodating those users would have cost the company around $400,000 in its first month, and the founders could not secure suitable investment.
He eventually shut down Fluent and joined Perkins and Obrecht to build Canva, drawing on his experience in design and technology.
The lessons from his earlier ventures also influenced the team's approach to launching Canva. Rather than rushing the product to market, the founders spent months developing and testing it before its 2013 launch.
"We knew, however, that we needed to launch a product that had a certain level of quality in it," Adams told the BBC.
He said the team understood its intended users and what they needed from the product. Despite pressure from investors to launch sooner, the founders chose to focus on creating something customers would value.
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What Adams learnt from failure
For Adams, his experiences with Google Wave and Fluent taught him the importance of understanding what users need, choosing the right time to launch a product and solving real problems. He learnt that even a technically impressive idea needs to be easy to use and have a clear purpose to succeed.
Now Canva's chief product officer, Adams continues to focus on making creative tools accessible to more people. He told the BBC that he would not change his journey, adding that his advice to his younger self would be to "have faith and belief through all of the down moments".