Launching ISSIP’s New Website: A Conversation with Alessio Giuiusa

The new ISSIP website, staging3.issip.org, was launched this month, which is a great opportunity to introduce the ISSIP member who managed this project for our community. Dr. Alessio Giuiusa is a Functional Service Designer at the Financial Services Industry Division of Capgemini Consulting in Italy, and serves as Digital Service Designer-in-Chief for ISSIP. He holds an MSc in Industrial Engineering and a PhD in Business and Economics Engineering both from University of Rome “Tor Vergata”.

ISSIP’s Editor Dr. Christoph Breidbach discussed the website re-design with him:

Christoph Breidbach: Alessio, thank you for your time today. We are all very exited about the new ISSIP website. Before we go into more detail, can you please tell us more about your professional background?

Alessio Giuiusa: Hello Christoph. I would say that I am a dynamic person with several interests, and someone who has always enjoyed to share his knowledge and to learn from other professionals. For example, thanks to my precious collaboration with Prof. Vittorio Cesarotti and Dr. Vito Introna  (U-Rome “Tor Vergata”), I frequently lecture on Project Management and Six Sigma courses, and train university students and high profile consultancy teams. In 2012, I was Distinguished Visiting Scholar at IBM Almaden Research Center where I worked with Dr. Jim Spohrer and specialized in service design and service science research.

Christoph Breidbach: So, you are really what we call a t-shaped professional here at ISSIP?

Alessio Giuiusa: Yes, I like to define myself as a t-shaped professional, with deep knowledge in industrial engineering within the facility, logistic, energy and production sectors in Europe, and breadth across project management, service science and design, continuous improvement/problem solving,  as well as knowledge in building digital communities, teamwork and leadership.

Christoph Breidbach: How did you approach the re-design of the ISSIP website then?

Alessio Giuiusa: When carrying out the design of ISSIP’s new website (currently in beta), I initially gathered information and developed the list of requirements with Yassi Moghaddam, Prof. Stephen Kwan, and Dr. Jim Spohrer. I wanted to design a digital service for ISSIPers with an intuitive look and feel, and a multichannel value proposition that would enable members to co-create value. I also involved Mike Wang, who is an expert of user experience and ergonomics. And you helped me to develop synergies between the newsletter and website.

Christoph Breidbach: Great Alessio. Can you share with us, what good service design embodies for you?

Alessio Giuiusa: Value-cocreation is the main phenomenon to keep in mind when designing new service processes. The designer should imagine how the service interaction can create value for the involved actors. Since value is determined by the service beneficiary, a good service design starts with a deep knowledge of the customer or beneficiary, and then it is important to work backwards: know your customers, know what your customer is seeking in the service interaction, understand what’s in it for him by choosing your value proposition, and know what the customer is willing, and not willing, to do.

Christoph Breidbach: And the link to service innovation?

Alessio Giuiusa: I believe that there is a tight connection between service innovation and design. I am used to thinking about service design as the formal process that nestles new technologies (innovations in general) within a service value proposition, and thereby enables new opportunities for value cocreation (new offer, new ways, and better performances). On the other hand, when formally designing a service, stuff you would like to do, but you can’t (because the proper technology is missing, or it is not convenient), comes out. This is a consistent input for service innovation.

Christoph Breidbach: And how did you define the new value proposition for the website?

Alessio Giuiusa: The website provides a mean to facilitate value-cocreation through a multiple channels (YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, G+, etc.). Our goal was to create a real community of service innovators: ISSIPers as members that actively share their service interests, knowledge and doubts, and who actively interact with other members.

Christoph Breidbach: Well, that all sounds very exciting. What else can our members look forward to in future iterations of the website?

Alessio Giuiusa: The next steps for ISSIP.org is to re-engineer the ISSIP communication plan, to include new available channels, and to increase the number of ISSIP members by starting more structured debates in our community. I think we also need to advance a more holistic integration of social media channels.

Christoph Breidbach: Alessio, once again, thank you for your contribution to ISSIP. What are your plans for the future?

Alessio Giuiusa: I currently live in Rome, Italy, but I am really fascinated by Silicon Valley’s innovation culture. So, my goal is to move back to the Bay Area to work in service innovation and apply my skills in activities related to service design like business process re-engineering, or service management, including service operations management, continuous improvement project management, on-line communities, etc.

Christoph Breidbach: Thank you Alessio, and good luck.

Alessio Giuiusa: Thank you Christoph.