Joe Gebbia, a cofounder and former chief product officer of Airbnb, said on Saturday that President Donald Trump has appointed him as the US’s first chief design officer.
“My directive is to update today’s government services to be as satisfying to use as the Apple Store: beautifully designed, great user experience, run on modern software,” Gebbia, 44, wrote in an X post.
Representatives for Gebbia and the White House did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider
On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order that created Gebbia’s new role and the National Design Studio. In his order, Trump said it is “time to fill the digital potholes across our Nation” and “update the Government’s design language to be both usable and beautiful.” The national initiative would be called “America by Design,” he said.
As part of the order, federal agency chiefs will have to consult with Gebbia on how to implement the initiative and “shall produce initial results by July 4, 2026.”
Gebbia told Axios it was “an injustice that our interfaces are horribly out of date.” Government mobile apps and websites act as the “front door to the government” and should be as beautifully designed as platforms made by Apple and Airbnb, he said.
“There’s no reason why our government can’t be a standard for great design,” Gebbia told Axios.
Gebbia is no stranger to the Trump administration. In February, Gebbia said he was joining the White House DOGE office. He added that his first project at DOGE would be to improve the “slow and paper-based retirement process” for federal employees.
Gebbia left his operational role at Airbnb in 2022 but continues to sit on its board of directors.
In an interview published Saturday, Gebbia told Axios that Cabinet members and other officials had asked him for help on “how to ship internet products at scale that are beautifully designed” while he was working at DOGE.
“I will do my best to make the US the most beautiful, and usable, country in the digital world,” Gebbia said on Saturday.
Elon Musk, who was the de facto leader of DOGE until May, congratulated Gebbia on his new appointment on Saturday. Gebbia has been a member of Tesla’s board since 2022.
David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar, also congratulated Gebbia in an X post on Friday.
“As a former cofounder of @Airbnb, @jgebbia could have done anything next but decided to volunteer his time and expertise to public service. Thank you Joe,” Sacks added.
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