Integration of User-Centred Design and Product Development Process within a Virtual Environment:Practical case KVALIVE

User-Centred Design (UCD) is an approach which aims to improve the management of human requirements in the Product Development Process (PDP). The main aim of this approach is to incorporate the users more closely into the development process already in very early phase, in order to obtain direct clarifications on the specification requirements and immediate feedback from them. A significant drawback observed in the application of this approach was that it had typically not been integrated into the companies' business processes. The aim of this research study was to integrate a theoretical PDP and UCD within a Virtual Environment (VE). The integrated process was tested in one industrial case study - the cabin development of an underground loader. Feedback about the process and virtual simulator was gathered from engineers and loader drivers. Their feedback was mainly positive, however further research about the closer integration of UCD into the real PDP is required