Donald Neidecker-Gonzales, a student at Ohio State majoring in communication technology, has transformed his enthusiasm for communications and video game creation into a blossoming career in digital entertainment. Working with the Chronos Lab and being a member of the Game Creation Club has given him the opportunity to delve into the intricacies of video games.
Based on his coursework, specifically COMM 3513: Video Games and Society, taught by Assistant Professor Teresa Lynch, Neidecker-Gonzales was invited to work as a research assistant at the Chronos Lab, the communication science lab at Ohio State. In the lab, he oversees participants in research experiments, sets up the experiments and organizes the results.
Through his connection with the lab, he landed the opportunity to collaborate with the Entertainment Software Association, the organization responsible for developing the age and content rating system for video games. He assisted major companies such as Xbox and Sony in navigating new laws and regulations affecting the video game sector.
“Through Chronos Lab, I was able to transition into working as an intern for the [ESA] marketing and communications team, where I helped write up reports for these companies and got to make video games a part of my daily life to help the team keep updated on whatever tasks they needed,” Neidecker-Gonzales said.
In addition to his work with the Chronos Lab and ESA, he attended conventions and research conferences with VentureBeat, a media and tech website that features information on the technology industry. This allowed him to integrate his passion for video games into both his academic and professional life.
Neidecker-Gonzales is an active member of the Game Creation Club at Ohio State, meeting weekly to discuss various aspects of game creation and design. He also engages in monthly game jams, during which he designs a video game in 48 hours. These opportunities offer valuable real-world game development experience.
"You have 48 hours to complete all aspects, including audio, design, programming, art, etc., for a video game,” Neidecker-Gonzales said. “This allows you to create a complete experience based on a game, providing an opportunity to get involved at some level even if you have no experience."
Neidecker-Gonzales hopes to continue working with video games post-graduation and said there are many potential paths, but he wants to focus on development in some way, preferably as a designer.
“Just working on games at any level is the main goal. It’s a lot easier to work on things and have that motivation when it is something you have a deep passion for,” Neidecker-Gonzales said.
Article by student Jenna Beane
Makiya Jenkins is a graduating senior in the School of Communication majoring in communication technology on the human-computer interaction and user experience (HCI + UX) track.
Jenkins initially wanted to go into software engineering and started as a computer and information science major. However, she decided to pivot to communication technology after her first semester.
“With this major you can interact in the job with the user experience. You have to interact with people to do research,” Jenkins said. “I felt like if I did software engineering, it’s just, ‘Okay, create this website or app,’ and that’s it, and that’s not actually interacting with people.”
Within the HCI + UX track of the communication technology major, undergraduate students learn about how people interact with technology and the social implications of newly emerging technologies.
“There’s a lot of problem-solving, and really getting the perspective of your target group and its target users,” Jenkins said.
Specifically, the coursework deals with the theory behind human-computer interaction and user experience, allowing students to understand how to create solutions to issues within websites and applications.
One course, ACCAD 5141: Interactive Arts Media II: UI/UX, involves designing a prototype to solve a particular problem within an existing application, allowing students to take a hands-on approach through each step of the design process.
Jenkins’ prototype focused specifically on advancing the design of the transportation tracking tool on the Ohio State app.
“I know a problem is that a lot of the buses are overcrowded and you don’t know how many people are on the bus until it gets there, so you’ll have to wait for the next bus,” Jenkins said. “So I thought maybe a cool change would be to add some sort of tool that tells you how many people are on the bus or if it’s full or almost at capacity so that you can plan accordingly.”
Another course on Jenkins’ spring 2024 schedule is COMM 3545: Human-Computer Interaction & User Experience, which teaches students the theory behind both human-computer interaction and user experience. That course is complemented by COMM 3160: Communication Research Methods where students learn how to apply theory to conduct user research.
“We’re learning about the different methods of collecting data– interviews, surveys, focus groups – stuff like that’s really beneficial,” said Jenkins.
Outside of her coursework, Jenkins worked as a research assistant within the Virtual Environment, Communication Technology, and Online Research (VECTOR) Lab run by Associate Professor Jesse Fox.
As a research assistant, Jenkins was responsible for opening the lab, welcoming participants, conducting interviews and running research studies.
After a semester of working as a research assistant, Jenkins was promoted to project manager, which allowed her to train incoming research assistants on appropriate procedures to run studies at the VECTOR Lab.
Post-graduation, Jenkins aims to stay on the user experience track and hopes to make technological advancements within a creative industry, such as entertainment.
Article by student Jessica Barboza
