Samsung and LG enlist the services of UI design experts

Samsung and LG have apparently recognized that if they want to compete with the iPhone and its popular smartphone brethren, they are going to have to put a lot more focus on vamping up their mobile user interface designs. So after a somewhat desultory start in the smartphone game, the two Korean companies are taking a scholarly approach to breathing new life into their mobile UI designs by enlisting the services of two university professors.  Jung Ji-Hong, a former professor at Visual Communication Design at Kookmin University, will join Samsung as Vice President of their Mobile Design Group.  At LG, Lee Kun-pyo will head up the Design Management Center as Executive Vice President.  Kun-pyo is the former dean of the Department of Industrial Design at Korea Institute of Advanced Technology and comes to LG with an expertise in user interface and human centered design.

Although Samsung and LG are the second and third largest handset manufacturers in the world behind Nokia (Tech Crunchies), both companies have struggled to find success (or maybe a better way to put it is their place) in the smartphone market.  The Samsung Galaxy S has been relatively fruitful but in comparison to the iPhone and Blackberry consumer feeding frenzy, both companies haven’t exactly been able to bait the waters with their products.   The hiring of UI/UX design experts shows that Samsung and LG not only acknowledge their smartphone weakness, but also concede that user interface design strategies need to be the crux of mobile product marketing and sales.  The fact that the UX/UI experts come from universities indicates that both companies want to be at the cutting edge of new developments in the UI/UX design worlds.   LG already plans to release a line of Optimus smartphones and both companies plan to have Android tablets by the end of 2010.  Time will tell if the UID academic infusion translates to smartphone success.