Mark Dionne

Former Director of Engineering
Kurzweil Educational Systems – Kurzweil 3000
Inquiries: http://www.kurzweiledu.com/products_k3000win.asp; USA or Canada: 800-894-5374; All other countries: 781-276-0600

By Eric Morrison
Posted February 2006

Description of technology:

Kurzweil 3000 is a scanning and text-to-speech learning software package that assists individuals with literacy needs in reading, writing, study skills, and assessment.

Finding out about needs:

Mark discussed the company’s design feedback:  "It comes in through our email list from internal and external people.  Some comes from marketing people. At trade shows, teachers will come in and tell you stories - second hand at least. A lot of it comes from the engineers saying, 'Well this would be nice to do.' It comes from all over the place."

Intrigued by:

Despite the inputs they do receive, Mark is intrigued by the volume of feedback received for their blindness products, which is very high, compared to the volume from users of the literacy product, which is substantially lower.  He views this in part as an artifact of different cultures among disability groups.  Nonetheless, Mark is clear that input from users does affect design decisions.

Seeing the world in
new ways:

Creative end-users had a significant impetus on the development of what would become Kurzweil 3000.  Going back to the "early days" of the company in the early 1990's, Mark indicates the company only had "reading machines for the blind.  We discovered that some people were using it who weren't blind or even low vision.  I think this was a bit of a surprise."  From that point, one of the company executives, who had a relative with a learning disability, proceeded from this discovery - and from personal experience - to develop specifications for what would become Kurzweil 3000.

On design principles:

Mark indicates, "One principle is to give [end-users] choice if you can: the tool box approach.  We give users a lot of features because everyone uses a slightly different constellation.  We are serving anywhere from kindergarten to post-doctoral users."  Secondly, to ensure a consistent and simple aesthetic logic, Kurzweil has used a single user interface (UI) designer for primary aspects of the interface.  Mark refers to it as "the spirit of the physical layout - the artistic aspects."

On users:

When conceptualizing users, Mark indicates that the company's first notion was of "high school or junior college users who needed a compensatory tool."  However, he also references the product's namesake, Ray Kurzweil:  "Ray's big argument is that you have the precocious child whose ability to understand what is read to him is way ahead of his ability to actually read independently”.   Users’ needs in "test-taking" are now a major focus for Mark.

On training and use:

One of the substantial challenges Mark cites in regard to having a feature-rich product is getting the right information to the right user: "That’s the most common user interface discussion… where exactly do we put things?  How do we do it in such away that it’s not 'in your face' but not so hidden that no one ever finds it?”  In fact, Kurzweil Educational Systems has decided, in some cases, to add functionalities to the system that are not practical to describe in manuals - they are hidden in the registry and revealed when special needs come in through technical support requests.

Views on the market:

Time required adding features and the psychology of the marketplace occupy much of Mark's attention.  He is adamant that a "checklist" should not drive the features of products, yet expresses that the "checklist mentality" within the market can be driven by material advertised on other products.  This affects consumer expectations and perceptions between products. Analysis is required to determine whether the feature demand is strong and stable and whether expected features may be added in a manner that corresponds to the corporate vision for the product.

On challenges, information exchange, and research:

Mark illustrates that there are “A lot of obstacle: it's hard to know what [user] requirements are, and in fact, not everyone has the same ones.  Often we have a very specific question, we are in the middle of developing feature 'X' and we want to know [if] we should call it 'A' or 'B'… should it be green or should it be blue... Whatever the question is, we need the answer pretty quick…"  In that regard, Mark expresses that there are significant difficulties seeking answers from real-world school contexts.  He indicates that gaining entry to schools, teacher worries about confidentiality, and stigma that may be perceived by students and parents lead to "five or six degrees of jump to get to students."  By the time an amenable class is located, students may not be using the system in a way that permits observation resulting in desired information.  Mark indicates that an employee with reading difficulties at Kurzweil often provides essential feedback on interface design and functionality that serves the company well.

Wants to know
more about:

Mark says, "I would like to know what frustrates people…What the obstacles are.  If they are sitting down and they have a book that they want to read, where [do] they get stuck and sort of decide to give up?  What are the 'blocking' moments in their approach to the system?  Are there points where they might give up and we never hear from them again?  That's the worst thing. I want to see people put in a situation where they are a trial user and they have a successful experience with it - they get exposed to it (with assistance).”

Provocative views & quotes:

Mark is always ultimately concerned with the technology getting to people who need it.  He says, "If you ask me what is the most important function our company, you might think I would say engineering, but I would say sales.  If you can't sell it, then people are never going to use it and will never take advantage of it.”