While Mixed Prototyping has proved to be e↵ective for the assessment of prototypes, this research aims to explore the use of Mixed Prototyping for the generation of early prototypes. To satisfy end-user's needs, new products need to be designed with an early integration of end-user requirements. An e cient way to achieve this is to directly integrate the end-users in the design process and give them an intelligible and interactive tool to perform specific design tasks. Current interactive tools to integrate end-users in the design process provide either a high level of immersion (e.g. CAVE) or a high level of control over the virtual prototype (e.g. Configurators). We designed a new Mixed Reality design tool which simultaneously allows end-users to be immersed in a virtual environment (immersion) and to interact with a virtual prototype and to modify it (control), resulting in e↵ective end user-interactions. In two design use-case scenarios, we assessed the enduser experience and satisfaction while using the tool and we also evaluated the impact of the tool on the creative process and the design outcomes. The findings show that, when users are provided with a tool that allows to directly perform design tasks and modify a virtual prototype, as compared to when they have no control, they are more engaged in the design tasks, more satisfied with the design process and they produce more creative outcomes.

We designed a new Computer-Aided Design tool that can be easily and intuitively used by non-expert designers, like users of the products being designed. The target application is the design of highly-customized products together with the final users, more specifically the design of walking assistive devices with mobility-impaired people. The tool has simultaneously been developed with an ad-hoc protocol for an accurate evaluation of the satisfaction of users, through questionnaires and psychophysiological measurements. In fact, costly and complex technical products such as walking assistance devices require ad-hoc design processes to address the specific needs of each user. The characterization of user requirements in the early stage of design remains difficult due to their subjective and communication gap between the user and the designer. To overcome these issues, we propose a new modular digital toolbox that allows co-design between users and designers. The tool is a combination of a mixed reality hardware/software system and kansei (or affective) engineering techniques. The hardware consists of modular Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs), custom-made by 3D printing and powered by a 3D game engine. The interactive content is displayed in mixed reality, simultaneously to the user and the designer. Kansei data of the users are collected through questionnaires and psychophysical measurements, during multiple collaboration phases.

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