• The prototype for the equipment was designed and built through a student project with the University of Minnesota Engineering Department.
• The University worked with Key to address safety issues and needs of the Assessment.
• The initial design was sent to many engineering firms as a prototype to build the final piece of equipment.
• KEY went to market in 1985 with the first KEY Station. This design was a stationery model (bolted to the floor and wall), which has gone through a number of small changes, but has always kept industry standards as an integral part of the design.
• The current mobile unit was introduced years later. This innovative design makes the KEY system light weight, easy to transfer and load in and out of vehicles. The assessments can be done in virtually any location.

Ms. Key started her company with the belief that "Not All Assessments Are Created Equal" as many industry suppliers were just trying to sell equipment. The design of the KEY Functional Evaluation, unlike a number of equipment-based assessments, was designed based on the medical, vocational and industrial needs for accurate information to assist in returning individuals back to work swiftly and safely after injury. Other companies that were developing systems at the same time or later would come out with the equipment first and then look at how to sell it using Functional Capacity Evaluations. For a therapist, it was very frustrating because there was no consistency between systems, facilities or even therapists within individual facilities. The most attractive part of the KEY Method approach is that there are very specific protocols and procedures that do not vary and can be easily explained and defended.