Jihoon Suh
Technology creates possibilities.
Design turns those possibilities into behaviors.
My career has been spent at that intersection. The industries kept changing and so did the technologies, but the question underneath never did:
how do new technologies become part of everyday life?
The journey
The story is easier to follow through the questions I was chasing than through the company names. Each chapter was an attempt to answer one.
Three early startups
EdTech, wearables, IoT · 2012, 2015 – 2016
Which emerging technologies actually matter?
Across three different startups spanning EdTech, wearables, and IoT, I got my first real exposure to building products end to end, from hardware interaction to web and mobile interfaces. It was also where I discovered how much emerging technology, especially VR, genuinely excited me.
Daydream, AR/VR · 2017
How does immersive computing become intuitive enough for everyday people?
At this research lab, I focused on building novel interaction patterns for next-generation immersive computing. Prototyping across both hardware and software, I worked to define a holistic, OS-level picture of how AR/VR could live inside the Google ecosystem. Cutting-edge work, and genuinely challenging.
Meta
Facebook Gaming · 2018 – 2020
How do people gather and build communities online?
My focus shifted from immersive experiences to human connection. Gaming wasn't simply entertainment. It was one of the earliest examples of large-scale digital communities forming around shared interests, and I became increasingly interested in how products shape social behavior.
Meta
Messenger · 2020 – 2022
How can technology preserve human connection when physical presence disappears?
The pandemic changed how people communicated almost overnight, and video calling became essential infrastructure. I moved from Gaming to Messenger because I believed communication would become one of the most important product challenges of the moment. The work reinforced a belief that still guides me: technology is most meaningful when it helps people connect.
Coinbase
Onchain finance · 2022 – Present
How does value move across the internet?
As the world emerged from the pandemic, my curiosity turned toward financial systems. Blockchain introduced a larger question: what happens when value moves as freely as information? Since joining I've worked on wallets, onchain finance, borrowing, lending, and trading, and gotten to witness crypto move toward far wider adoption along the way. The challenge remains the same as ever, helping a new technology become understandable, useful, and trustworthy enough for everyday people.
Why design
What pulls me in is the moment a new technology stops being a demo and becomes something people actually reach for. Technology alone rarely changes anything. People do, and only once it feels understandable, useful, and trustworthy.
Design is what closes that gap, and that gap is where I want to spend my time. My background in industrial design at KAIST and human-centered design at the University of Washington gave me the tools, but the excitement has always been the same: turning raw possibility into something human.
Latest writing
Beyond work
Outside work, I spend time building products, writing, advising founders, investing, and supporting design communities.
Design advisory
Design sprints, product feedback, and hiring for consumer startups.
KIDNY
A comprehensive design profession community with 100+ members in NYC.
Always glad to meet people building thoughtful products.
Whether you are exploring new technology, working across Korea and the US, or just want to compare notes, say hello.