Role of designers in developing new products: an innovation turn in transformational economies

This paper maps how the role of designers has been discussed in the innovation and management literature, in particular in new product development literature, and it proposes that designers can be social innovators. Designers are problem solvers, creative persons developing products that are aesthetically beautiful and elicit emotions. Designers have been described as the persons able to understand the unmet needs of society and propose radically new products by creating new meanings for them. Designers have also been analysed as one of the many actors participating in the design process, which is a translation process. However, very little discussion has been made about the role of designers in transformational economies. Thus, it is suggested that future studies should critically reflect on the role of designers in changing the meaning of production and consumption, and on the managerial implications of dealing with climate change and societal challenges more generally.