1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview? Is there anything I would do differently for other interviews?
What I learned from the interview was not something I gleaned from the content itself (though that, too, was valuable and insightful.) Rather, the most important lesson came from the whole aftermath of the interview, as I listened to the audio again to transcribe it. I realized with much mortification that I didn't fulfill my role as the interviewer as I had hoped. Right before our session commenced, my interviewee Luke Peterson, had asked me to not ask many follow-up questions, since he was actually a last-minute stand-in for someone who originally was meant to be my interviewee but couldn't make it. I had eventually realized now that, despite his request, I should have found a way to make Luke comfortable to the point that he didn't even realize he was answering the follow-up questions that he apparently seemed to dread, being a rather reserved but sincere individual. Both of us had been nervous, I'll admit, but the faults of the interview that I identified subsequently were all on my behalf. There were many questions I failed to ask due to my
Luke was an absolutely fantastic interviewee; he was friendly and gave valuable responses to all the questions I had asked. More importantly, he had been kind enough to accept the interview within such a short notice. He's actually a game design animator, and I'm regretful to have not asked more specific questions to this aspect of his field, since I myself am interested in this creative design of the field. I still don't know if this will pertain to my EQ or if it will even be my topic narrowed down, but asking Luke these questions would have let him know that I was more interested in his work beyond what I was required to know. Though I would never intentionally want to be rude, I should have at least tested the limits of Luke's request by sprinkling in some simple but non-redundant questions. Then I would have asked if it bothered him, rather than take the safe route entirely. Or, at the very least, I should have emphasized to him that follow-up questions were important for me to learn more.
All of this chagrin has led up to a better understanding what I must do for all my other interviews. Next time, should my interviewee ask a similar request as Luke's, I'll let them know about their importance. I won't hold back any more of my questions, even if I accidentally spill out a redundant one; I would rather take a chance of asking too many questions than repeat the role I had played in this recent interview. That is not to say, of course, that I won't be careful to filter some questions. I want to be as courteous as possible, because I owe the team at USC who has helped me thus far in the mentorship so much, and it's the least I can do.
2. Did I get additional resources and contacts? What is the most useful? Why?
Yes! Luke offered plenty of resources - mostly books that I will most likely use for my research - and contacts. Half-Real by Jesper Juul, The Art of the Game Design by Jesse Schell are two books he likes. He's offered to have the graduate students or even incoming students to be some of our interviewees in future sessions. This is perfect, since having experienced and beginning a game designers would be refreshing for research. This is the most useful, I would say, since these students game designers are the closest game designers I can possibly have for Senior Project.
3. What makes my interviewee qualified to help me?
Lucas Peterson is a game designer working in the Game Innovation Lab at USC, which (as I have mentioned multiple times before and would like to apologize for doing so) has the number one ranked game design program in the US. He is currently working with Tracy Fullerton, director of the Interactive Media Division and associate professor, as well as my two other mentors. He works on the animation of the video games, one of the prominent aspects of the field. Animators, I have learned from my mentorship, are so valued and essential of a game development team member that they are one of the most "wanted" in the field at USC.
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