Airbnb co-founder hires Peter Arnell as first US chief brand architect

Airbnb’s billionaire co-founder Joe Gebbia is growing his team at the US National Design Studio, a Trump initiative focused on improving the government’s online presence. Gebbia announced on Monday that American designer Peter Arnell has joined the team to become the brand’s first chief architect in the United States.

Gebbia shared the news of Arnel’s appointment during The Wall Street Journal’s “The Future of Everything” conference on Monday. Arnell will join a group of Silicon Valley design and software engineering talent uniquely focused on reshaping the usability of America’s government’s online platforms.

During his four-decade career as a brand and marketer, Arnel has worked with major brands such as Donna Karan New York, Samsung, Unilever, Pepsi, Reebok, Chrysler, The Home Depot, and others. Now, his focus will be on rebranding this digital slice of the USA, which he calls “the greatest brand in the world.”

“This is a very special and different take on the word ‘brand’ in the sense that we’re not rebranding this country, of course,” Arnel explained at the Wall Street Journal event. “What we’re trying to do is, specifically, have consistency, [a] A unified look, feel and experience, so we can begin to build trust in the way everyday Americans interact with government.

He said the move represented an “interesting challenge” for the future, as the team was tasked with redesigning 27,000 government websites. To do this, the team is relying on many of the same design sensibilities they’ve previously used to create best-in-class consumer apps, like Airbnb.

“There’s an Airbnb spirit here,” Gebbia noted, saying that much like bringing the complex process of finding a room to rent or a vacation rental online, the government’s work is also about taking a complex process and making it easier, safer and more trustworthy.

He also pointed out some of the work the team has already done to improve the design and functionality of government online processes and websites to date. For example, the team revamped the state retirement process, which had been complex and paper-based, into a streamlined, web-based version that employees could complete within minutes, in some cases, rather than months. He said that there is another process being prototyped that has reduced the common government workflow from 87 clicks to 12, and the plan is to reach 10.

The design initiative will also address other frustrations caused by using government websites, such as losing sites during navigation or pages timing out, causing users to lose their data.

Gebbia slyly referred to the poor consumer experience using government sites as “one of the darkest patterns of user experience you can think of” — a reference to deceptive design or user interface tricks that sites use to manipulate their users.

“Just imagine [a government website] Suggest that being cruel prevents you from even engaging in it. “I think we are moving beyond this…this is over. People should feel empowered to get the things done that they need to get done with government,” he said.