The Trump administration is hiring Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia to lead a new national design firm tasked with redesigning federal websites.
Gebbia, who will serve as design director for the US, Published on It announced Saturday that it will work to update government services so that using them is “as rewarding as the Apple Store: well-designed, great user experience, running on modern software.”
In his announcement, Gebbia stated that his work will support the new America by design Initiative launched by a Implementation rules by President Donald Trump on Thursday. The initiative aims to “enhance the American experience by first and foremost breathing new life into the design of the websites where people interact with their government.” It’s time to update the government’s design language to make it user-friendly and beautiful.”
Gebbia invited interested parties to apply for positions at the National Design Studio Visit the new website. The site simply asks you to sign up for a mailing list to receive updates.
In addition to his role as co-founder of the vacation rental service Airbnb, Gebbia ran an office furniture design company called roomAND Samaraa former subsidiary of Airbnb that develops additional accommodations. Gebbia also served and was a member of Tesla’s board of directors Part of Elon Musk’s DOGE projectThis has led to turbulent cost-cutting between federal agencies.
Where to start Gebbia?
Gebbia will still have a lot of work to do when it comes to redesigning government websites so that they are not only beautiful, but also mobile-friendly, user-friendly and accessible.
“In my experience and what I’ve heard from my colleagues, the legal language and poor design of government websites confuses users,” said Ryan Frankel, president and chief technology officer of Accommodation tipsan internet marketing company.
Frankel says the confusion leads people to seek help or guidance to find what they’re looking for. According to him, most government websites do not meet basic standards of security, speed, usability and accessibility.
However, Frankel does not believe that these are unsolvable problems.
“If we focus on the true nature of government websites to be simple and useful first and foremost, then I believe this goal is achievable and would provide lasting benefits,” he said.
Frankel believes Gebbia should start by examining some of the websites Americans use the most: IRS.gov, NIH.gov and other websites that have a strong influence on citizens and provide important services.
“This is a natural opportunity for the government to make improvements,” he said.
Because of the additional layers of review and approval, major changes to government websites can take a long time; Frankel estimates that it may take two years before we see noticeable changes.
Pay attention to safety and experience.
The Gebbia team must also ensure that redesigned websites do not compromise security, to ensure ease of use and attractive design.
“The worst way to get caught up in federal digital modernization is to separate tighter CX (customer experience) from security requirements,” said Steve Morris, founder and CEO of Newmedia.com, a digital marketing agency.
Morris, whose company has worked on government websites, including one for veterans, says another strategy is to avoid removing entire website themes rather than choosing what to replace.
“It really doesn’t work very well,” he said. “You can’t change everything without breaking something.”
Instead, Morris suggests that a more strategic approach to updating website themes can maintain accessibility and compliance.
“What I like most about the Gebbia team is the combination of these two tricks: no customer experience change is integrated into the final project, but a security test and a modernization per topic,” he said. “This is how the federal government’s digital infrastructure works.”