How purpose-built carriers might have changed development

How would carrier development have differed if early carriers had all been purpose-built?

Growth would likely have been more gradual, and navies might have learned small-carrier roles earlier instead of jumping from conversions to very large fleet carriers.

Conversions created an early jump to very large carriers before navies fully understood what smaller types could do. A purpose-built lineage might instead have grown more gradually and organically. The Royal Navy's experience with Hermes, Eagle, and Argus later gave it a conceptual advantage when escort carriers appeared. The US Navy had to learn those small-carrier operating patterns more quickly in wartime, showing how early hull experience could shape later doctrine.