National Design Studio
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | August 21, 2025 |
| Headquarters | Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent department | White House Office |
The National Design Studio is an agency of the White House Office.
History
[edit]On August 21, 2025, Bloomberg News reported that president Donald Trump had signed an executive order establishing the position of chief design officer of the United States and that Trump had appointed Joe Gebbia, a co-founder of Airbnb who was involved in the Department of Government Efficiency initiative, to the position.[1] The order established the National Design Studio, lead by the chief design officer.[1] The National Design Studio is set to close three years from the signing of the order.[2] Gebbia confirmed his appointment four days later.[3] According to Wired, Gebbia was originally set to join the United States DOGE Service, but sought to have his own office.[4]
Organization
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The National Design Studio operates within the White House Office. Similar to the United States DOGE Service, it contains a temporary organization.[5] The administrator of the office and the temporary organization, a position that was not immediately occupied, reports directly to the White House chief of staff.[6] The National Design Studio operates out of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.[7]
According to Wired, the National Design Studio is separate from the Department of Government Efficiency, but employees of the latter organization—including Kaitlyn Koller, a former Senate Committee on Foreign Relations aide—joined the National Design Studio. In addition, the National Design Studio's work includes contracts with private designers and studios.[4] Reuters later reported that Edward Coristine had joined the National Design Studio.[8]
Work with other agencies
[edit]Trump's order establishing the National Design Studio required federal agencies to "produce initial results" by July 4, 2026, the United States semiquincentennial. In accordance with the order, the administrator of the General Services Administration must consult with the chief design officer to modify the U.S. Web Design System, and individual agencies must consult with the chief design officer to ensure designs comply with the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act.[9] According to Reuters, Gebbia's initial focus was at the Internal Revenue Service. An official within the Trump administration described the National Design Studio as an apparent "stripped-down successor" to the Department of Government Efficiency.[6] Gebbia later told Dezeen that the National Design Studio's work would focus on the ten most-visited government websites.[10]
Responsibilities
[edit]The National Design Studio was tasked with overseeing online interfaces and physical environments to be "both usable and beautiful",[11] an initiative labeled "America by Design".[9] On X, Gebbia compared the eventual product of the National Design Studio's work to the "satisfying" usability of the Apple Store.[12] According to David Sacks, the special advisor for AI and crypto, Gebbia's responsibilities included the "redesign of roughly 26,000 federal web portals".[13]
The National Design Studio manages several websites, including americabydesign.gov and ndstudio.gov.[14] In October 2025, it began managing techforce.gov.[15] The National Design Studio's design work includes trumpcard.gov,[16] genesis.energy.gov, trumprx.gov,[17] and safedc.gov.[10] The National Design Studio's websites include material generated by artificial intelligence.[17] In December 2025, Fast Company reported that the National Design Studio was using Figma Make, a prototyping tool that uses artificial intelligence.[18]
Responses
[edit]Critical reception
[edit]The Architect's Newspaper's Elizabeth Goodspeed critiqued the National Design Studio as resolving "a problem no one actually has".[19]
Legal concerns
[edit]According to NOTUS, three of the National Design Studio's websites failed an accessibility audit from Equalize Digital and did not appear to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which cover federal regulations, including the Section 508 Amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.[17]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Korte, Gregory (August 21, 2025). "Trump to Tap Airbnb Co-Founder as First Government Design Chief". Bloomberg News. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ "Trump appoints Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia to new chief design officer role". Fast Company. Reuters. August 21, 2025. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Heckman, Jory (August 25, 2025). "Trump taps DOGE-aligned tech leader to overhaul federal websites". Federal News Network. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ a b Kelly, Makena (August 29, 2025). "DOGE Operatives Are Joining Donald Trump's New National Design Studio". [[Wired (magazine)|]]. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Alms, Natalie (August 21, 2025). "Trump signs order calling for improved government design". NextGov. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ a b Alper, Alexandra; Rozen, Courney (August 22, 2025). "Trump to tap Airbnb co-founder Gebbia to improve government websites, sources say". Reuters. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Ravenscroft, Tom (November 18, 2025). "Joe Gebbia confirms role as America's first chief design officer". Dezeen. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Rozen, Courney (November 24, 2025). "DOGE 'doesn't exist' with eight months left on its charter". Reuters. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ a b Alder, Madison (August 21, 2025). "Trump targets federal web design in new executive order". FedScoop. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ a b Dreith, Ben. ""Design is in the White House" says America's first chief design officer Joe Gebbia". Dezeen. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Wingfield, Nick (August 21, 2025). "Trump to Appoint Airbnb Co-Founder to be U.S. Chief Design Officer". [[The Information (website)|]]. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Holtermann, Callie (December 14, 2025). "From Airbnb to America's 'Chief Design Officer'". The New York Times. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Shepardson, David; Shakil, Ismail (August 23, 2025). "New Trump design chief aims to improve thousands of US government websites". Reuters. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Alder, Madison (August 25, 2025). "Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia takes on new White House design chief role". FedScoop. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Nazzaro, Miranda (October 30, 2025). "White House registers 'techforce.gov' domain". FedScoop. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Tiffany, Kaitlyn (October 9, 2025). "The Trumpian Fantasy of WhiteHouse.gov". The Atlantic. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ a b c Manto, Margaret; Kennard, Emily (December 1, 2025). "'Sloppy' Code and Accessibility Issues: The Trouble With Trump's Silicon Valley-Inspired Web Design Project". NOTUS. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Schwarz, Hunter (December 11, 2025). "The government is vibe coding now". Fast Company. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
- ^ Goodspeed, Elizabeth (December 12, 2025). "Joe Gebbia's National Design Studio offers a rebrand of government services, solving a problem no one actually has". The Architect's Newspaper. Retrieved December 14, 2025.