"Design is in the White House" says America's first chief design officer Joe Gebbia

The creation of a National Design Studio illustrates an "unprecedented" concern for web design in the US government, says the nation's first chief design officer, Joe Gebbia, in this exclusive interview.

Known for co-founding web rental platform Airbnb, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) alumnus Gebbia confirmed his role as chief design officer for the United States.

He explained that the creation of the National Design Studio, which he now runs, demonstrates president Donald Trump's commitment to design.

"Design is now in the highest level of the government ever"

"The fact that this is a presidential initiative means it has all the air cover and all the might that this needs to actually effectuate and become real," Gebbia told Dezeen.

"This is the White House, right? Design is in the White House. If a company cares about design, it lives at the top."

Gebbia explained that in his new role, he directly reports to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and works from an office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, adjacent to the White House. Gebbia said he would continue to live in his primary city of residence, Austin.

"Design is now in the highest level of the government ever – there's nowhere higher that we can go unless one day the president also happens to be a designer, which would be interesting," he said.

"The responsibility that we have is insanely high. The decisions that this team makes will cascade across and reach hundreds of millions of Americans."

"Why can't the government be more like an Apple Store?"

Gebbia was appointed to the position in September, after an executive order by Trump that called for an America by Design initiative and the founding of a National Design Studio to manage and upgrade the nation's digital infrastructure. Trump has made no further comments about Gebbia's appointment.

Gebbia said that his main aim was to increase the user experience of already existing websites and to represent the United States through its digital presence to citizens and worldwide.

He lamented the perceived gap between the highly advanced technology private sector in the United States compared to the government and asked, "why can't the government be more like an Apple Store?"

"[There are] different generations of internet, web experiences that have become highly fragmented over the arc of the internet," he said.

"I think in 2025 there's no reason why our government can't have thoughtful, intuitive design, good usability, or modern software," he said, pointing out that some government websites have "operating hours that actually turn off at six o'clock".

"Shouldn't we be proud of the way our government presents itself?" he asked.

"We have a shot on goal to tidy up user experience and design across the entire nation. This is a once-in-a-generation moment that we have to help our government present itself in a way that we can all be proud of."

National Design Studio focused on high-traffic websites

So far, Gebbia said that the National Design Studio (ND Studio) is focused on "quick wins", including streamlining some of the most high-traffic websites.

"It turns out there are roughly 10 websites that, every month, about half the nation visits," he explained.

"And so this is very obvious: if you want to reach the most people, we should probably focus on these types of web experiences that people are having today. And this is not new stuff, this is legacy, this is the real nitty gritty."

The work of ND Studio also includes the creation of websites for recent Trump initiatives, such as SafeDC.gov. The homepage and recruitment tool for Trump's DC Task Force features moody images of the president, buildings and armoured Border Patrol agents overlaid by sans-serif talking points.

Gebbia's experience tracks alongside the boom of web platforms that distinguished services on the back of streamlined websites, Airbnb being the primary example.

Since stepping down from an operating role in the digital rental platform, Gebbia has founded a modular housing company, Samara, and served on the boards of several companies, including Tesla.

Role of chief design officer "pitched" to administration

After publicly announcing his support for Trump's Republican party after the 2024 election, Gebbia was recruited to update the mostly paper-based retirement systems for the federal government's Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

From there, he pitched his current position to the administration.

"I ended up putting together a pitch for the role that I'm in today, and was able to put it in front of the right people," he said.

"And I think credit to this administration, which cares very, very deeply about modernising outdated processes."

Gebbia's work with the OPM has been linked to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was once led by billionaire businessman Elon Musk. A May 2025 press release stated that OPM's Retirement Services Team was working "closely" with DOGE and that the initiative was a "cornerstone" of the DOGE initiatives.

Gebbia neither confirmed nor denied his association with DOGE to Dezeen.

Initiative compared to 1970s Federal Design Improvement Program

Gebbia compared the American By Design initiative to the 1972 Federal Design Improvement Program, put forward by then-president Richard Nixon. It brought together dozens of high-profile designers and architects to revamp federal logos and buildings and facilitated symposiums to connect the design industry with the federal government.

"The Federal Design Improvement program, started in 1972, was considered to be wildly successful," said Gebbia.

"This is the equivalent of what the president is doing."

The comparison has been echoed by the administration on the official webpage for the programme.

Gebbia building design "dream team"

Gebbia explained that the 1970s initiative brought a lot of talented designers to Washington DC and that he is building his own "dream team" of designers to replicate this. He declined to name who had been recruited so far.

"It's truly a dream – it's incredibly selective, [but] I still do have a few jerseys left," Gebbia said.

"Some people who work for our team could go to San Francisco right now, and with one conversation, they could raise a 10-plus-million-dollar check for just an idea," he continued to illustrate the perceived gap between private and public web capabilities.

According to Gebbia, the majority of the people he is approaching "were never thinking about working in government", including himself.

"I never thought I'd be here," he said.

However, Gebbia added that he already had "more inbound requests than we know what to do with".

"We're just focused on making websites more usable"

In the past, many agencies have had internal digital teams, though many have been cut down after the firings earlier this year.

"These agencies are excited by that prospect, excited to have this talent that honestly, would go to the private sector," he continued.

When asked about the outcry over what some view as partisan use of design within the government, Gebbia said that the focus remains on the website work.

"We're just focused on making websites more usable, easier for Americans to use. I'm not sure what's controversial about that."

Gebbia co-founded home rental company Airbnb in 2008 with Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk. He is also the founder of Samara, which designs Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs).

He originally trained as a designer and has previously designed a range of modular office furniture for US company Bernhardt Design.

The post "Design is in the White House" says America's first chief design officer Joe Gebbia appeared first on Dezeen.