This article conceptualizes the relation between design, economics, and innovation.Rather than connecting design to economics through the notion of value, it explores how economics construes negative side-effects of market Catchers Equipment Sets activities.Aligning itself with recent She Ji contributions that tie design to the economic sociology of Michel Callon, this article argues that markets assume a constant process of managing such side-effects.The invention of car safety and the development of Baby Snacks safety design features in 1950s Sweden illustrate this.
Automotive design through safety innovations can be seen as a design process that transcended the clear separation between business and politics assumed by neoclassical economics.This article argues that this phenomenon is a concern for design scholars as well as social scientists.I assert that it is important to explore this line of inquiry by investigating design processes in different economic settings.