The difference between design and research seems to be a question of new versus good. Design doesn't have to be new, but it has to be good. Research … - Paul Graham

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Engraved portrait of Paul Graham, facing right

The difference between design and research seems to be a question of new versus good. Design doesn't have to be new, but it has to be good. Research doesn't have to be good, but it has to be new. I think these two paths converge at the top: the best design surpasses its predecessors by using new ideas, and the best research solves problems that are not only new, but worth solving. So ultimately design and research are aiming for the same destination, just approaching it from different directions.

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About Paul Graham

Paul Graham (born 1964) is an English computer scientist, essayist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author. He is best known for his work on the programming language Lisp, his former startup Viaweb (later renamed Yahoo! Store), cofounding the influential startup accelerator and seed capital firm Y Combinator, his essays, and Hacker News.

Biography information from Wikiquote · Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, Crédit photo: Sarah Harlin (Public domain / CC0)

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