{"id":45153,"date":"2021-04-01T10:35:18","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T14:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/?p=45153"},"modified":"2023-12-13T15:10:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T20:10:59","slug":"samsung-design-leader-federico-casalegnos-take-on-seizing-the-humanity-centered-design-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/samsung-design-leader-federico-casalegnos-humanity-centered-design-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Samsung Design Leader Federico Casalegno\u2019s Take on Seizing the Humanity-Centered Design Opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

In early March of last year, Federico Casalegno<\/strong>, Samsung\u2019s Head of the Samsung Design Innovation Center (SDIC) and Mobile Experience Planning, was leading a team of designers spread across three countries. Most of his team worked out of the SDIC design lab in the heart of Silicon Valley\u2014a place of hands-on prototyping and research where many of the company\u2019s most future-looking technologies begin to take shape. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and seemingly overnight everything changed. Casalegno and many of his fellow designers began working from home, where they conducted team meetings, user research interviews, and product demos through video conversations.<\/p>\n

\"Federico

Federico Casalegno, Samsung\u2019s Head of the Samsung Design Innovation Center (SDIC) and Mobile Experience Planning<\/p><\/div>\n

The rapid transformation of the team\u2019s work life was a crash course in extreme user empathy. They, like the very people they were designing products for, had to adjust to a new reality where every interaction was mediated through a screen. As school courses, business meetings, fitness classes, and healthcare visits moved online, Casalegno had a lightbulb moment: Despite the physical distance between people, humanity is more connected than ever; and designers have a unique opportunity to create a more equitable, healthy, and sustainable shared future for people across the planet.<\/p>\n

Even before COVID, Samsung\u2019s design ethos was humanity-centered and experience-driven. This is made possible by placing people and their diverse set of needs at the very core of all aspects of the design journey, which is preceded by gaining an understanding of societies, cultures, and human values. Values more than technological capabilities dictate what the designers create.<\/p>\n

The pandemic reaffirmed Casalegno and his team\u2019s commitment to designing products and experiences that begin with a real user need. For instance, during research conversations, people said they craved intuitive ways to connect with their family, friends, and colleagues. They wanted technology that centered around them and their evolving needs. Most of all, they needed their technology to simply work\u2014reliably and effortlessly. \u201cIn a moment of crisis people turn their attention to the essentials,\u201d Casalegno said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Designing products that feel essential requires insights into human behavior. The best technology begins with understanding the motivations behind why humans need technology in the first place. Casalegno believes that most people don\u2019t adopt products based on specs alone. They don\u2019t want a camera\u2014they want a tool to capture and share a moment. They don\u2019t want headphones\u2014they want a way to intimately connect with music and interact with people. \u201cPeople don’t just buy products. They buy what our products enable,\u201d said Casalegno.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With that in mind, last spring Samsung began to reimagine its approach to video conferencing. People had long used video calls for routine conversations, but their needs quickly became more complex as they lived more of their lives online. The design team started with a deep dive research project into how people used video calling and what they believed was lacking in the experience. \u201cSamsung saw how the entire interface for video could be substantially improved,\u201d Casalegno said.<\/strong> Engaging in more socially complex situations, from a guitar lesson and a birthday party with a dozen friends to a collaborative meeting with colleagues and a telehealth doctor\u2019s visit, became the norm. Samsung realized there was an opportunity to create a new, highly intuitive video conferencing standard that reflects the nuances of human interaction. \u201cWe wanted to shift from video conferencing tools designed for limited use towards powering true video conversations that enable communication, socialization, and learning,\u201d said Casalegno.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The newfound flexibility of Samsung\u2019s video conferencing experience centers around a few key features. Instead of tethering a video call to a single device, the designers created a Multi-View capability that allows people to interact with multiple screens simultaneously. Tapping a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, specifically the Galaxy S20 line and the Galaxy Z Flip, to the new QLED TV allows people to watch TV while on a video call. Meanwhile, beginning in May 2021, using the Google Duo app will enable the TV to display up to five people on screen at the same time. And to account for ergonomics, people can attach a USB camera to the TV to activate an auto-focus feature that keeps them in the frame as they move around the room. These initial features, unveiled at First Look 2021, are a step towards Samsung\u2019s vision of a world where anticipatory technology will make lives easier and more enjoyable. \u201cTechnology needs to be seamlessly integrated into our lives,\u201d he said<\/strong>. \u201cIt should anticipate what we need before we need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casalegno had already been exploring the idea of building a more frictionless future in the years leading up to the pandemic. In fact, in 2018, he and the UX team embarked on a project to explore how people experience storytelling through photography. Storytelling is at the heart of what Samsung\u2019s technology is designed to encourage. It\u2019s how people understand the world around them; it\u2019s a mechanism for connecting to others and creating shared memories. It was important that the new experience enabled people to spend less time learning how to use a phone camera\u2019s features and more time effortlessly capturing a moment.<\/p>\n

The result is the Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra\u2019s latest enhanced Single Take feature, which allows people to shoot multiple modes of image with a single tap of the shutter button. The camera is able to capture video, stills, and automatically apply various effects like a wide-angle shot and a bokeh\/blur effect \u2013 all while the built-in artificial intelligence identifies the best shots to highlight. Other features on the new camera include Zoom Lock, which locks in on a subject to ensure it stays in focus and sharp while under telephoto zoom, and Director’s View, which allows people to capture videos with both front and rear cameras at the same time. These new features are a means to an end\u2014as the future marches onward, the devices we use to capture memories will inevitably change, but the motivation behind documenting them will remain.<\/p>\n

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Single Take Feature<\/p><\/div>\n

Applying those deep insights on human behavior to physical products has happened much faster since the pandemic began. \u201cMoments of crisis have a way of spurring innovation faster than it might otherwise happen. And COVID fast-forwarded the future,\u201d he said.<\/strong> For Casalegno\u2019s team, the pandemic pressed reset on not just what they create, but how they create. It\u2019s been a reminder for designers that the only way to build the future people desire is to put humanity at the center of everything they make. And the only way to predict the future is to design the future we think is good for our societies and for our planet. \u201cOur role as leaders is to make sure that our designers evolve in an environment driven by values and fulfilled with equality and justice, and great hope for all,\u201d he said.<\/strong> \u201cThen they are empowered to design with purpose and with the values they think can truly help humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In early March of last year, Federico Casalegno, Samsung\u2019s Head of the Samsung Design Innovation Center (SDIC) and Mobile Experience Planning, was leading a team of designers spread across three countries. Most of his team worked out of the SDIC design lab in the heart of Silicon Valley\u2014a place of hands-on prototyping and research where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":45179,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25531,29720,29718,29721],"tags":[11646,16225,40,11645,599,126],"blue-badge":[],"class_list":["post-45153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-customers-samsung-innovation","category-product-mobile","category-product","category-product-mobile-smartphones","tag-federico-casalegno","tag-innovation","tag-mobile","tag-samsung-design-innovation-center-sdic","tag-silicon-valley","tag-smartphone"],"acf":{"turn_off_retargeting":false},"fimg_mobile_url":"https:\/\/img.us.news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/04143752\/Federico_C-scaled.jpg","fimg_url":"https:\/\/img.us.news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/04143752\/Federico_C-scaled.jpg","primary_category":{"term_id":25531,"name":"Customers (COVID-19)","slug":"customers-samsung-innovation","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":25531,"taxonomy":"category","description":"We're changing for customers to help them stay connected, productive and healthy at home.","parent":0,"count":36,"filter":"raw","term_link":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/category\/customers-samsung-innovation\/","term_path":"customers-samsung-innovation"},"badge":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45153"},{"taxonomy":"blue-badge","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blue-badge?post=45153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}