The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2013
what3words gave every 3m square on Earth a three-word address.
what3words divided the globe into 3x3m squares and assigned each a unique three-word code, turning a precision location into something sayable.
what3words
the move
Addresses are unreliable: postal sparseness, ambiguous names, informal settlements and missing house numbers all make location hard to state. Coordinates are precise but no one reads them aloud.
what3words keeps the precision and fixes the usability. A fixed 3m grid over the globe gives each square a code of three words drawn from a vocabulary of about forty thousand, chosen for length, pronounceability and low confusion risk. A speaker says the three words and a listener finds the square.
Because the vocabulary and the grid are fixed, the code is deterministic: the same three words always point to the same square, and the scheme needs no internet beyond an app or map to resolve.
why it works
- Three words are easy to say, remember and write down
- A fixed grid makes the code deterministic and universal
- The wordlist is curated to avoid confusing near-identical triples
- It works where street addressing fails or is ambiguous
what transfers
If a system is hard to use because its input is awkward, redesign the input to fit how people already talk; a mnemonic wrapper can unlock a tool that precision alone could not.
what came after
what3words was adopted by delivery firms, emergency services and postal systems, including India Post pilots and emergency dispatch trials, because it gives a precise drop point where an address is unknown. The choice of a fixed English wordlist has also drawn criticism for not reflecting local languages.
references
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.