Last year, I expanded my responsibilities as head of Samsung’s MX Business, to lead our Corporate Design Center. My career as an engineer taught me that the most sublime designs are intertwined with technological innovation. This new responsibility allows me to delve deeper into how the synergy of design, engineering, and R&D can yield transformative experiences. With my fellow designers, I’ve embarked on a deep exploration of Samsung’s design strategy to understand our roots and envision our growth.
Different Times, Unchanged Commitment
In 1996, Samsung committed to a philosophy: “Inspired by Humans, Creating the Future.” It means our creations are conceived with a deep understanding of you, the user, and we hold an unwavering belief that a user-centric approach is the key to the future.
We feel this even more keenly nearly 30 years on, as we contemplate the fluid nature of human interaction. Users value experiences over mere achievements and meaningful connections over raw technological prowess. We have distilled the Samsung design philosophy into three guiding identities, each one with you at the center: our products must be essential, innovative, and harmonious.
Essential design prioritizes clarity of purpose and ease of daily use. Innovative design emphasizes originality, reflecting purpose in new and distinct ways. Harmonious design ensures all elements work together for a holistic purpose, aligning with societal, environmental and ethical values.
Inspired by Humans, Creating the Future
These three design identities are exemplified by our latest hardware and software ecosystem.
Take, for instance, the act of folding and unfolding a smartphone. It seems simple. However, that simplicity users feel is only achieved through a rigorous focus on what is most essential and intuitive. The minimal, sleek appearance housing specialized hinge functionality emphasizes our commitment and the inherent beauty of essential design.
We’ve raised the standards for foldable smartphone ergonomics. A difference of millimeter in a device’s thickness may not sound like a big change, but every gram and millimeter in a foldable device requires an engineering breakthrough. It demands craftsmanship with passion. When done well, the benefit to users is huge. That’s why we’ve innovated to make our latest foldables slimmer and lighter while at the same time, more durable than our previous generations.
With our foldables, your self-expression reaches new levels with, literally, the most flexible camera experience. You can capture the perfect angle, hands-free. The enhanced multitasking experience like a PC also raises the bar for productivity. You can work, collaborate, or game on-the-go.
Samsung Galaxy Tab and Wearables are designed in the same spirit. They work with each other harmoniously in an ecosystem that opens up a powerful connected experience, serving as a seamless extension of your needs, priorities and unique personality.
Whatever the Samsung Galaxy experience is, when we say, “Inspired by Humans,” we don’t just mean people. We also mean their communities, their environment and their planet. Samsung Galaxy devices are being designed with sustainability in mind, because even the smallest actions contribute to a large impact such as protecting our planet. When we say, “Creating the Future,” that includes our responsibility today to ensure a sustainable tomorrow for the future generation.
Our Shared Journey to a Better Tomorrow
When design comes together with technological innovation, it brings forth new possibilities. With innovative technologies, people can make the most of today and ultimately create the best possible tomorrow. We invite you to join us at Unpacked, where we’ll pull back the curtain on our latest devices and experiences inspired by you, created for you.
In a way, they were nearly 30 years in the making, a culmination of decades of human-inspired design. But this is also just the beginning. Seeing the ways our innovations blend into your lives, enabling new possibilities for creativity, productivity or self-expression, will inspire the next steps of our journey. So, let’s navigate this journey together, harnessing design and technology to create a future that truly reflects you.
Mark your calendars for July 26!
By Dr. TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile Experience at Samsung Electronics
