Trump's New Head Of Design Is Ambitious To Increase Thousands Of US Government Websites

JAKARTA - The new design head appointed by US President Donald Trump, Joe Gebbia, stated on Saturday, August 23, that he aims to improve government services so that users feel satisfied such as using Apple's App Store.

Trump has appointed Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb, to lead the newly formed National Design Studio, on a mission to make digital services in federal agencies more efficient.

Gebbia said via platform X on Saturday that she wanted the government's website to be beautifully designed, run on modern software, and provide an extraordinary user experience. "A experience that reflects the level of excellence for our nation and makes life easier for the American people of everyday life," he said.

Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, August 21 to form the studio, which an official with knowledge of the plan appears to be a simpler successor to the controversial Department of Government Efficiency, previously led by billionaire Elon Musk.

Gebbia, who has led efforts to overhaul the federal pension process at the federal human resource agency, is now the head of design. Reuters reported this week that the studio's main focus was on dealing with issues at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), citing a government official.

Many US government websites are designed by bidders at the lowest cost and are difficult to use or have not updated significantly over the years.

White House official David Sacks said in X that Gebbia would "supervise an overhaul of about 26,000 federal web portals, many of which are obsolete, to better serve recipients of Social Security, veterans, and all citizens."

According to Trump's executive order, National Design Studio will increase the "use and aesthetic" of federal digital services. The studio will advise government agencies on how to reduce overdesign costs and use standard designs on sites where people interact with governments.

The order also states that the studio will be closed within three years.