Samsung, LG hire design executives

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, the world’s No. 2 and No. 3 handset makers, respectively, have recently hired new design executives in a bid to beef up their product user interface.

Samsung said on Wednesday that it has recruited Jung Ji-hong, a professor at Visual Communication Design at Kookmin University, as vice president for its Mobile Design Group. He will be in charge of setting up a strategy for user experience design for Samsung smartphones.
Jung Ji-hong

“We hope he would greatly contribute to improving the user’s experience, which is increasingly important in products,” Samsung spokesperson Leonor Lee said.
Lee Kun-pyo

Samsung, LG and other handset makers are scrambling to emulate the user experience and content of Apple’s hugely-successful iPhone, in a bid to tap into the fast-growing smartphone segment.

Samsung’s home rival LG Electronics also said on Tuesday that it has named Lee Kun-pyo, a professor at the Korea Institute of Advanced Technology, as head and executive vice president of its Design Management Center. Lee, dean at the Department of Industrial Design at KAIST, has expertise in interface design and human-centered design.

He will replace Bae Weon-bog, executive vice president, who will focus on building LG’s global handset strategy.

source