Hong Yujin, Head of UX Team, Samsung Electronics MX Division
'Liquidity' UX Philosophy... New and Familiar
"Flip Expresses My Personality... Fold Maximizes Multitasking"
Hong Yujin, Vice President and Head of UX Team, MX Division, Samsung Electronics. Photo by Samsung Electronics Newsroom
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] Recently, foldable smartphones have established themselves as the mainstream in the premium smartphone market, bringing innovation to the smartphone user experience (UX). Hong Yoo-jin, Vice President and Head of the UX Team at Samsung Electronics MX Division, stated that they will continuously evolve the user experience with devices that offer new and familiar designs and foster creativity. They plan to expand the ecosystem through close collaboration with partners such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft (MS).
On the 29th, in an interview with Samsung Electronics Newsroom, Team Leader Hong explained, "As smartphones have become essential in daily life, users want portable devices that fit snugly in their pockets while also demanding large screens. To satisfy these conflicting demands, after much consideration, Samsung Electronics came up with a simple yet not-so-easy solution: folding the screen."
From its inception, the foldable phone has been innovative, and its UX design philosophy is unique. Samsung Electronics' foldable phone UX design philosophy is 'fluidity.' Hong said, "Since foldable phones fold and unfold and use two screens, a more fluid UX design is necessary. The fluidity of UX design has been the foundation of Samsung Electronics' design philosophy from the early stages of development."
He explained, "First, it is a new yet familiar UX design. It provides a new and innovative experience, but the user experience should not be difficult or complicated. Second, it is important not to forget that foldable phones are tools that help users create. Smartphones have evolved from simple phones to devices that enable creativity through photos, art, games, and more."
Although both Flip and Fold are foldable phones, user preferences differ clearly. Hong said, "Flip users love their devices as a way to express their individuality and enjoy the variety and personalized experiences the form factor offers. Fold users show interest in the multitasking features and large-screen experience the device provides. For Flip, we aimed to offer more ways to express oneself and personalize experiences, while for Fold, we focused on enhancing the large-screen experience, especially multitasking functions."
The Flip4 offers a customized user experience by allowing the entire device, including the cover screen, to be used according to individual preferences. It also noticed that users pay attention to new photography experiences using the Flip, enabling more diverse content capture with FlexCam.
The Fold4 improved accessibility between operation buttons by rearranging menus and layouts, significantly reducing finger movement when using the smartphone. It also enhanced app switching and activation speed by adding a taskbar on the taskbar. Finger gestures allow users to open split screens or pop-up windows, boosting productivity.
To build the foldable ecosystem, Samsung Electronics is strengthening collaboration with various partners. They worked closely with Google to develop an Android optimized for foldables from the code level. To provide the ultimate multitasking experience on the Fold's large screen, they joined forces with major partners such as Google, Meta, and MS.
Team Leader Hong stated, "I believe it is very important to enrich the user experience in the steadily expanding foldable ecosystem. Going forward, we plan to actively participate in collaboration with partners, prioritizing app optimization and ecosystem expansion."
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