President Trump appointed Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia to lead the new National Design Studio, aimed at modernizing federal digital services.
Gebbia said he wants government websites to be as well-designed and user-friendly as the Apple App Store, adding in a post on X: “An experience that projects a level of excellence for our nation, and makes life less complicated for everyday Americans.”
Trump signed an executive order Thursday creating the National Design Studio, seen as a lean successor to Elon Musk’s former Department of Government Efficiency. Gebbia, now chief design officer, will focus on revamping outdated federal websites, with the IRS a top priority. Many government sites were built by low-cost contractors and remain difficult to use.
White House official David Sacks said on X that Gebbia will “oversee the redesign of roughly 26,000 federal web portals, many of which are obsolete, so they better serve Social Security recipients, veterans, and all citizens.”
Trump’s order says the National Design Studio will improve the “usability and aesthetics” of federal digital services, advise agencies on cutting design costs through standardization, and close after three years.
I’m honored to be appointed by President Trump as the first Chief Design Officer of the United States of America. (🧵)https://t.co/PPq5nb9ok1
— Joe Gebbia (@jgebbia) August 23, 2025
