Biography
Julee Hyunju Lee is Global Head of Design for Rocket Growth at Coupang, where she leads multidisciplinary teams across product design, research, and content strategy to build seller-centric commerce platforms. She is a design executive with over 20 years of experience shaping digital products and services through human-centered design and strong product thinking.
Prior to Coupang, Julee held senior leadership roles at Meta (Facebook), GoTo Group (Gojek), NTUC Enterprise, and PayPal, where she built and scaled design organizations and led product innovation across commerce, fintech, mobility, and digital platforms. Earlier in her career, she contributed to product and experience design at Intuit, Cisco, and Yahoo!.
Julee has taught design and innovation at the National University of Singapore since 2017 and currently serves as Adjunct Associate Professor at the College of Design and Engineering. Her teaching focuses on user-centered design, collaborative innovation, and product thinking—helping students translate human insights into scalable products and services.
She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Arts in Digital Media Management from Teesside University, and has more than 10 U.S. patents.
Research Interests
- Product innovation and systematic thinking
- Digital commerce and platform ecosystems
- Human-centred and interdisciplinary design
- UX research and service design methodologies
- Design education and talent development
Teaching
- CDE2300: Product Design & Innovation
Industry Leadership in Product & Design
- Coupang Rocket Growth: Leading design transformation for seller experience
- Gojek: Directed customer & merchant experience and design for on-demand services across Southeast Asia
- Meta: Built and scaled APAC product design for Ads, Commerce, Loyalty, and Business Integrity platforms
- NTUC Link: Founded the Centre of Design Excellence and launched award-winning digital products including Plus! App and MoneyOwl
- honestbee: Led design and products for honestbee’s online, on-demand commerce platforms across 8 countries in Asia
- PayPal: Led design for mobile payments, including fingerprint authentication with Samsung Galaxy devices
- Intuit: Led design for global Quick Books Online, an account management platform
- Cisco: Designed the first generation B2C online meeting platform globally
Patents
Julee is the inventor of more than 10 international patents issued across the US, Europe, and Asia, covering mobile payments, digital commerce, and user experience innovations.
1. Systems and Methods for Implementing Instant Payments on Mobile Devices
- Patents: USPTO US20140324692A1; WIPO WO2014176560A1; CA2909204A1; AU2014256889A1; EP2989602A4; JP2016526200A; CN105359178A; KR20160003672A; US Provisional US201361816629P, US201361829096P.
- Impact: Enabled PayPal’s One-Click Checkout, embedded in Android devices through global OEM partnerships. Adopted worldwide as part of mobile commerce ecosystems.
2. Generating Sale Transactions from Voice Data Input by a User
- Patents: USPTO US20150095188A1; US11093996B2; US10229450B2.
- Impact: Introduced voice-enabled commerce, pioneering natural language interfaces for mobile payments.
3. Communication Device Interface for Monetary Transfers Through a Displayable Contact List
- Patents: USPTO US2015100478A1; US10346817B2.
- Impact: Developed a peer-to-peer transfer framework, allowing seamless money transfers directly from mobile contact lists.
4. Communication Device Interface for Merchant Check-In and Shopping Notifications
- Patents: USPTO US20150100405A1; US10318991B2.
- Impact: Created an omnichannel retail design, connecting in-store check-in with real-time digital shopping notifications and payments.
5. Account Notifications for Required Information to Complete a Financial Transaction
- Patents: USPTO US201361890982P (Provisional), US20150106267A1, US20170270531A1.
- Impact: Designed a compliance and account validation framework for financial transactions, strengthening user protection and regulatory alignment.
6. Computer User Interface for a Display Screen
- Patent: USPTO USD611490S1 (Design Patent).
- Impact: Designed one of Yahoo! Lifestyle’s earliest social profile interfaces, significantly improving user engagement and media reach.