Designing the Wireless Charging Pad
When Apple announced that their newest phones would be compatible with Qi wireless charging, we started thinking about designing a charging pad for them. We felt that the new iPhones deserved a well designed, high quality wireless charging pad.
From our research, it seemed the technology would be around for several years, so it would be worth designing our own product. We were inspired to create something that fits into multiple spots in the home—from your desk to your living room. Something that you wouldn’t mind looking at when the phone wasn’t there. Something that was not a typical consumer electronic accessory.
![](https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=200&s=445ef28c890ab5b340e0af592ec8361a 200w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=300&s=cbb5b55b754412ff71af01e776366c1a 300w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=500&s=100b94e1b8767e44b5f99cc27491a4a9 500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=700&s=e22c78e28fb4d86d23da000d530d9807 700w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=900&s=236313c33408854b76cfef7f9482db49 900w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1100&s=572f611487b2e40a8eaa50d812894ba0 1100w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1300&s=371cd25b9576c5c1d6c894eb4ab96d35 1300w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1500&s=d7c00dad9beb9a947e0c121862cce9f8 1500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1800&s=b011834f0d9fcf10f8558b848fef96c6 1800w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=2250&s=5f18c1352281f31cabaa56ee388de062 2250w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=2500&s=2a2d09c1f9c0363ed16f18aec49bccaa 2500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-A1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=3000&s=513d35c0263081d93ba8e17b3bc9bb9a 3000w)
Most of our products don’t have any electronics, so the wireless charging pad gave us a great opportunity to learn, and to flex our technical design muscles! We started by dismantling—we pulled apart a variety of charging pads, to get at (and understand) all the required inner workings.
![](https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=200&s=fe02bb513d6a732b4f0f7049d7956612 200w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=300&s=abf3c61ec3ac6271a7d662f7e2212e3b 300w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=500&s=bc5980413343f21d5054ee6ef4b08153 500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=700&s=12fd709ff5838b4d8972be0f56004e18 700w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=900&s=e1ca13cbc937d68821c8de3162611560 900w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1100&s=a527c43a1a3dcc5db89e03b27c97b015 1100w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1300&s=7cb7a55d30d023216ea2401e4e44b193 1300w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1500&s=e3904985ea07b65540839472c894df71 1500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1800&s=7b4b28fcbb7bace724a05af9447628a3 1800w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=2250&s=a4ae8066fdda72673eb00b4ea72c4f53 2250w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=2500&s=84c28c398d1d01da69764cf2701ef9de 2500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-B3.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=3000&s=b520a91750f1702f7e317b13bd71e57c 3000w)
After getting a rough idea of what the charging pad needed in order to work, we went straight to cutting and gluing and building physical prototypes out of cardboard and paper. Sean, our product designer, and Elise, our college intern at the time, teamed up to create and model a number of prototypes. Pretty quickly, we settled on a circular shape—it felt totally natural as a target to aim for when placing your phone down. Squares and rectangles were problematic, because the visual lines get jumbled if the phone isn’t placed in the correct orientation. It can easily feel crooked, whereas with a circle, it will never feel that way. So, a circle it was!
Dialing in the Diameter
We took the circle, and created a whole range of diameters to test with cardboard cutout phones of the iPhone 8, 8 plus, and X.
![](https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=200&s=6a6eca16930114b0ff9b91ebc98f488d 200w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=300&s=c246e51c87d1822c5f7f11a932b26aa4 300w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=500&s=35ce9930e3568a0dfe4d8527cf202889 500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=700&s=a37389e3ec356937578c94204596bb2f 700w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=900&s=69acbae16f8f853086103cfdb5025024 900w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1100&s=9e89be175e7ef42fa1f19be3cae7c681 1100w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1300&s=4937452fbdc484bf4654aadeaae98bd7 1300w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1500&s=050bffcd4304fd2bb2244bb5d3a2e9d9 1500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1800&s=c46fdabef7b93e151d0c938971f0b05a 1800w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=2250&s=b1b6052732ebc7712a519f41a7957863 2250w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=2500&s=76458ca833f147a252280bf563d37469 2500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2FLP0019-designing-chargin-pad-F1.jpg?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=3000&s=e0283a19fdc03029b68214920649ed33 3000w)
The size is a crucial part of the design. We created a charging pad that’s substantially larger in diameter than anything on the market. Why? The reasoning was twofold: we liked the overall visual appearance, and we liked how the larger size made for a more stable resting place for your phone.
SEAN KELLY (Lead Product Designer): We worked with the prototypes until we found a circle that felt like the right size. Our response to seeing many of the other charging pads on the market was that the phone could easily fall off. We wanted ours to be a really stable accessory, that feels substantial and permanent.
![](https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=200&s=39e7aebb92f3cfd2a534da1e6beaa1a9 200w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=300&s=477ecbeaf2d21e5d3d4b5e07240ad7dd 300w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=500&s=a968a466bb944793aa8b7a2e779be57c 500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=700&s=b8a91b1ced5a505348963b2416a498ad 700w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=900&s=8c3deb511eeb08a7b895e4059f6c3185 900w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1100&s=bbf93f44f78be1911b5371bac2728287 1100w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1300&s=27e47cbcc71867f668094dd9d326ad94 1300w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1500&s=86da8ee049a9d32f6b7baacac71f9627 1500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1800&s=c34184559327f13b8bf647bfc0e28bbb 1800w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=2250&s=ea3603773151a023ecd66be02d151115 2250w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=2500&s=83699d435401b43ca7ff7fb0d97bfc2d 2500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fsean-A2.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=3000&s=2a65bca8d31babed82e3e4d79d309ca1 3000w)
With some of the overall details dialed in, we moved on to considering and studying which materials to use. We looked to the dock for the material balance and weight and we looked to the desk shelf for our new cork material. You needed a soft place to put your phone, and a strong base to keep it in place.
KEN TOMITA (Co-Founder): One thing we wanted from the get-go was weight. On the original iPhone dock, we really stressed true one-handed operation, because it’s so annoying if the dock moves when you pick up the phone. Likewise, we wanted the wireless charging pad to be rock solid.
![](https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=200&s=8161a7782440835b56dc1fc7af139853 200w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=300&s=b91b2173ac12b0e6984b9913c208863f 300w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=500&s=f28b5fa2e71bc891f2b48cc4583dabc7 500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=700&s=5b2858382d5b2010fa39651b405910f8 700w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=900&s=522adb642cfe2a4278e222543651df60 900w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1100&s=29b0d01b310876823ad0192c14afc633 1100w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1300&s=12a50b579a45068ba02afc02f7354b25 1300w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1500&s=01498ddc9b9460a39579a26de390e21d 1500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=1800&s=096cc4df96b14ecec3d29be06b5a6fae 1800w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=2250&s=20535d12eaf6ab6c139483a185fdeaf7 2250w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=2500&s=395cfea2be753b996a297da6dfaf1cf2 2500w,https://grovemade.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fsiteleaf.grovemade.com%2Fuploads%2Fken-A1.png?auto=format&ixlib=python-1.1.2&w=3000&s=08ed6543f605572b1d6a3dd5fcdad124 3000w)
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We started stacking materials—felt and metal, wood and metal, cork and metal, cork and leather, felt and wood—to see what looked and felt right. Cork and metal ended up being the winning material combo—the cork is naturally soft and the stainless steel or brass base is satisfyingly hefty. And using natural materials made for a nice departure from plastic tech accessories!
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Typically, junctions between layered materials are designed to have slight gaps, to allow for imprecise construction—this allows them to be manufactured separately and assembled later. But we wanted the cork and metal to be flush, even if it was harder! Going flush emphasizes the differences between the materials and gives the product cleaner lines. To do it this way, we have to assemble the electronics before super gluing the cork and metal together, and then run it all together on an edge sander. It’s much harder to produce, but the product is better for it.
Ken built a couple of phototypes (a word we made up ourselves—phototypes are prototypes that are good enough to photograph), and we handed them off to Max, our photographer, to get ready to launch! Mission accomplished.
A Twist and Turn
But, the story of the charging pad wasn’t going to wrap up quite so easily. In the days leading up to the launch, we had a customer stop by the shop for a tour. Ken showed her around, and then brought her over to the design space to show her the soon-to-be-released wireless charging pad, which Max was in the middle of photographing. She really liked them, and wanted to buy two on the spot—until she saw the long red cord hanging behind the pad.
“What am I going to do with that cord?” she said. “I want everything to be clean … why don’t you wind it up inside the pad?”
She was a surgeon, and she needed to make sure that she felt ‘right’ at her workstation, so she noticed something we hadn’t fully appreciated. It was a fantastic insight. We designed the charge pad to work anywhere in the house, so the cord had to be long enough to work in a variety of spaces… but leaving the cord dangling, even if it’s wound in a little leather wrap, wouldn’t cut it. The details matter. We had to modify the design to incorporate some kind of internal cord wrap.
“What am I going to do with that cord?” she said. “I want everything to be clean … why don’t you wind it up inside the pad?”
She was a surgeon, and she needed to make sure that she felt ‘right’ at her workstation, so she noticed something we hadn’t fully appreciated. It was a fantastic insight. We designed the charge pad to work anywhere in the house, so the cord had to be long enough to work in a variety of spaces… but leaving the cord dangling, even if it’s wound in a little leather wrap, wouldn’t cut it. The details matter. We had to modify the design to incorporate some kind of internal cord wrap.
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We were in the process of engineering the charging pad for production, and our engineer Mike took on the challenge of taking a hard pivot and reconfiguring the guts of the charging pad to accommodate 6’ of cord. We had no idea if there would be enough space in the charge pad to hold all that cord, but Mike got to work drafting it in our drafting software, and, lo and behold, there was just enough space! Good thing we had designed the pad to be bigger.
Having a place to wrap the cord makes the product better, even if it won’t make or break a sale. We had to do it.
With the cord wrap design integrated into the charging pad, we were all set. A charging pad with the right technology on the inside, and the right materials on the outside, something warm and inviting that we wouldn’t mind on our kitchen table or nightstand.
The design was finalized… now we just had to figure out how to build them all! But, that’s another story.
The design was finalized… now we just had to figure out how to build them all! But, that’s another story.
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