Henry Hongmin Kim: "Exceptional design is the synthesis of pure experience and brand experience"
Ever wondered how successful companies continue to wow us with new, groundbreaking products and experiences? Tech giant Samsung has won accolades year after year for its great design - including 88 iF DESIGN AWARDS in 2024. We spoke with Henry Hongmin Kim, Head of Design Strategy at Samsung.
When you start to design a new product, what is your process?
I like to think of design as a connecting point between technology and experience, the place where a potential improvement of human life resides. That's where the first step of a new product begins. Technological innovation without considering people's experiences is just a gimmick. Disruption for the sake of disruption only creates unnecessary, visual and experiential pollution.
What design are you particularly proud of?
Enterprise design gives us a fantastic opportunity to directly experience people's lives, making us appreciate the value and impact of our design. I love the feeling of sharing and serving humanity on a large scale.
Design is the manifestation of intent. For the Samsung MX Design Team, the fundamental difference between design and art lies in the intentions. Art is about expressing the artist's own statement. On the contrary, the design process starts with paying attention to others’ lives. The goal is to serve people, not to show off the designer's ego.
In your opinion, what separates good design from truly exceptional design?
Exceptional design is the synthesis of pure experience and brand experience, both quintessential and disruptive at a same time. In pure experience, essential design that becomes a standard, design which people cannot imagine living without, is considered good and indispensable design: timeless, seamless, flawless, and non-disruptive. From a brand experience standpoint, creating an authentic and distinct emotive experience, both aesthetically and technologically, is also crucial.
This paradox is the beauty of omni-exerience design.
What would you recommend to young designers coming to work in the US for the first time?
They should be capable of adapting to various situations and environments to be able to understand and serve them.
Be vulnerable, humble, and open-minded. These qualities will keep you curious about everything. Observe everything. Read everything. Listen to everything. Most importantly, question everything!
How can companies like Samsung address the issue of sustainability in the future?
At Samsung, we strive to design products that do more with less of the planet’s natural resources. We want to prove that you can design quality, high-performance devices while also maximizing resource circularity throughout the lifecycle of our products. Through our design ‘Essentials’, we are continuously creating innovations that do more for people and the planet.
To achieve this, we integrate sustainability directly into the design process and establish it as a core value across all of our products. From transforming discarded fishing nets into key components, to expanding the use of recycled materials throughout our Galaxy product series, we are constantly reimagining Galaxy product design and development to advance circular designs.
We want to show how Galaxy can be a force for good in the world. Through our innovation and collaboration, we will continue to design products that help create a more sustainable future.