HOW DOES WIRELESS POWER CHANGE THE WAY WE DESIGN SPACES?

In a world where people can work from home, why sacrifice the convenience and comfort in an office space?

Design and coworking spaces are constantly changing. And while it seems hard to keep up initially, understanding how wireless power is completely changing the way we design spaces is a big first step.

WIRELESS POWER IN WORK SPACES

Just a couple of decades ago, the workplace was designed around the significant technology explosion of USB and other cables. So many new technologies needed to be connected – to sync, to charge, and to function at all.

This required several changes to workplace design. In an effort to accommodate the cables and cords that were so prevalent in workspaces, furniture made a shift. Desktops and bench style tables were designed to include troughs or other under-surface cable organizers. Raised floors were invented in an effort to manage cables, cords, connections, and power charging without cluttering desks, conference rooms, and other shared spaces.

Even with these new design styles, designing new methods for cable management were the beginning of countless startups, technology branches, and other new designs. But as we’ve learned in Business School, leadership books, and TED Talks alike, incremental change isn’t the way to a blue ocean strategy.

Fast forward to the mid-2010s and we’ve seen massive changes in how the workspace is designed.

With the emergence of Bluetooth and wireless power, cables no longer need to be managed but rather sought.

Gone are the days of needing to charge your phone in your car during your lunch breaks. Office spaces, restaurants, and hospitality spaces are all finding the great value in wireless power within their walls.

Wireless power encourages smartphone owners to find the nearest pad, case, or any other home for inductive coupling. Rather than being chained to a wall by a 3ft cable, users can set down their phones on a surface that will charge their phones. Some of the biggest benefits include:

These benefits alone can influence a decision on where to stay for vacation, where to work, what airport to use, and what brand of charger to swear by. As designers, it’s critical to maintain spaces that complement those who work within it. And as marketers, it’s just as critical to understand pain points that led to these design shifts.

While designing with these new technologies may force costs to be incurred sooner rather than later, they are quickly becoming the expectation for the base norm. Until wireless charging goes into full effect, you will begin seeing power solutions with a combination of plug ins as well as cordless options.