WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald

Trump's new design chief said on Saturday he aims to improve

government services to be as satisfying to use as the Apple

App Store.

Trump has named Airbnb ( ABNB ) co-founder Joe Gebbia to spearhead

the new National Design Studio that will seek to make digital

services at federal agencies more efficient.

Gebbia said on X on Saturday he aims to make government

websites beautifully designed and running on modern software

with a great user experience. "An experience that projects a

level of excellence for our nation, and makes life less

complicated for everyday Americans," he said.

Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to create the

studio - a new body that an official familiar with the plan said

appears to be a stripped-down successor to the controversial

Department of Government Efficiency, formerly headed by

billionaire Elon Musk.

Gebbia, who has led efforts to revamp the federal retirement

process at the federal human resources agency, is the new chief

design officer. Reuters reported this week that tackling

problems at the Internal Revenue Service would be a focus,

citing a government official.

Many U.S. government websites were designed by lowest-cost

bidders and are hard to use or have not been significantly

updated for years.

White House official David Sacks said on X that Gebbia will

"oversee the redesign of roughly 26,000 federal web portals,

many of which are obsolete, so they better serve Social Security

recipients, veterans, and all citizens."

According to Trump's executive order, the National Design

Studio will improve the "usability and aesthetics" of federal

digital services.

The studio will advise agencies on how to reduce duplicative

design costs and use standardized design on sites where people

interact with the government.

The order also said that the studio will close in three

years.