More than ever, the ability to quickly and effectively shape ideas in a 3D environment is essential for industrial designers and with the rise of XR technology, a shift from traditional, screen-based CAD to VR-based CAD could improve time to market and personal effectiveness for product designers. In this study, this shift is assessed from a user experience perspective. Ten professional product developers are asked to design respirator masks. The experiment takes place in the Gravity Sketch VR app, using a HTC Vive Pro HMD. The participants are observed, surveyed and interviewed regarding different parameters on their experience. Participants experienced VR Aided Design as quick and intuitive. They personally felt performant and they enjoyed the process. As of now, VRAD is not seen as an alternative to neither sketching nor CAD. Instead, new users experience it being a new tool that can be positioned either parallel to or in between ideation sketching, clay modeling and detailed CAD design. Lastly, this paper includes a preliminary look at a VR Stylus for virtual reality aided design.
