The United States has created the post of Chief Design Officer (CDO) for the first time, with President Donald Trump signing an executive order on Thursday, August 21, to establish the role. The position will be filled by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, according to people familiar with the matter. The move is part of a sweeping initiative to modernise federal services under a programme called “America by Design”.
Why the CDO role was created?
As per Bloomberg report, the driving force behind the CDO role lies in the urgent need to modernise America’s outdated digital infrastructure. Federal agencies maintain more than 26,000 websites, many of which are fragmented, inconsistent, and difficult to use. Despite billions of dollars spent annually on maintenance, citizens, businesses, and even government employees often struggle to access services efficiently.
Officials argue that poor design is more than a cosmetic problem. According to them, it directly affects the delivery of essential services such as Social Security, Medicare, and immigration. By centralising design leadership, the administration hopes to make government systems simpler, faster, and more reliable.
What Gebbia will do as CDO?
According to the text of the executive order, Gebbia’s mission is to “prioritise improving websites and physical sites that have a major impact on Americans’ everyday lives.” This includes overhauling income tax filings, Medicare and Social Security applications, immigration paperwork, and other high-volume government processes.
Gebbia, 44, has experience working on public-sector reform. He previously served in Elon Musk’s now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency, where he led efforts to modernise the federal retirement system. At the time, benefits were still calculated using paper records stored in an abandoned limestone mine in Pennsylvania.
Describing Washington as a “design desert” in a Bloomberg interview earlier this year, Gebbia argued that effective design is crucial to making government services work for ordinary people.
National Design Studio
As part of Executive Order 14318, the White House will establish a new body known as the National Design Studio. Headed by Gebbia, this office will recruit top design and technology talent from both the public and private sectors.
The studio will be tasked with overhauling the United States Web Design System, creating consistent, user-centred standards for federal websites and forms. It will also coordinate closely with agencies to make digital services accessible across devices and languages.
With a three-year budget of $10 billion, the project represents one of the most ambitious digital transformation efforts in US history. Initial results are expected by July 4, 2026.
Besides this, the creation of the CDO role could also open new opportunities for private firms specialising in user experience, branding, and software services. With Washington set to become one of the world’s largest buyers of design expertise, many see the initiative as a potential “gold rush” for the industry.
The new design office will report directly to the White House Chief of Staff, ensuring political backing at the highest level. The administration has also set firm deadlines, demanding tangible improvements to digital services within a year.