by accident or design

(whether) by accident or design

Intentionally or not. Whether by accident or design, those high school kids have really created a solid, sustainable business. By accident or design, that new horror movie isn't even scary. Maybe they wanted to ensure it had a PG rating. All that matters is that you somehow solved the problem—who cares if it was by accident or design?

(whether) by ˌaccident or deˈsign

if you say that something happens by accident or design, you mean that you do not know if it has been planned or not: Mary was wearing the same T-shirt as me — whether by accident or design, I never knew.