In 2010, Coby and Janet Lund, PhD, BCBA-Ds, began working with a software engineer, to create an electronic data collection and management system that would allow Applied Behavior Analysis practitioners to gather a variety of data on a mobile device; then access those data online for analysis and reporting.
“At the time, our clinical practice was growing, and our paper data collection and management was becoming too cumbersome. It was expensive, difficult to access and manage, unwieldy to create and manipulate graphs, and we worried about security,” say Dr. Lund. “Honestly, we were just trying to find an existing product. Tablets and apps were prevalent, but we couldn’t find a system to replace all of our paper. It became clear that we needed to do something ourselves.”
The Lunds met software developer Chris Kooken at an ABA school fundraiser, and together began working on Catalyst. The system was designed to collect a wide variety of both skill acquisition and behavior reduction data in a way that replicates the manner in which practitioners collect traditional, paper data collection.
“In fact,” says Chris Kooken, “For each new capability, we start by analyzing the way behavior analysts are collecting and using data in the field. Catalyst was designed—and is constantly refined—to make that process easier, faster, and better, while remaining intuitive for users.”
Since those early days, Catalyst has grown dramatically. More than 1,000 organizations are now taking advantage of Catalyst—saving time and money on data collection and management; increasing practitioners’ abilities to collect, access, use, and analyze data; while also increasing the security of the clients’ confidential information.
Now, with an Atlanta team of nearly four dozen, including senior software engineers and BCBA-Ds, Catalyst is the clear industry flagship for electronic data collection and management, and it is positioned to continue its relentless drive to develop and maintain products at the cutting edge of technology and Applied Behavior Analysis.