In old industrial regions traces from historical mining and production of iron and steel have become a valuable resource in developing a tourism industry and other experience-oriented industries in the post-industrial society. The so called Experience Industry became a buzz-word in regional development programs during the 2000´s. The region of Bergslagen in the middle of Sweden is a good example of this structural change in economy which has been going on since the crisis of the steel industry in the middle of the 1970´s. In the 1980’s, the region was seen as one of the most depressed areas in Sweden, together with the sparsely populated north. Because of that, cultural heritage has been promoted to strengthen regional identity in Bergslagen. Strengthening regional identity is still a matter in regional development in the region, but today efforts are more concentrated on commercial use and packaging of heritage as experience in order to create an attractive image of Bergslagen. Statistical data shows that the regional labour market is changing. During the 1990s and early 2000s employment in the Experience Economy in Bergslagen has increased by almost 30 percent. The emerging labour force is in many ways different from the traditional patterns on the regional labour market. Traditionally marginalized group, such as women, young people and immigrants are well represented. But they are often low educated, low paid and part-time employed. On the other hand we also find a growing well educated and well paid group of employees. They are often in-migrants or commuters from places outside the region. Campaigns to promote Experience Industries on the local level are common in many places in the region. Local campaigns tend to focus on tourism and the commercial use of the typical industrial heritage associated with Bergslagen. However, the regional identity is often considered a problem due to the negative image of Bergslagen which where formed after the crisis for the steel industry. Although there is a tendency towards a more positive approach to Bergslagen, developers and politicians often still claim that they rather use other local and regional identities in place marketing than being a place in Bergslagen.

This master thesis is a case study, in the experience industry, of prototypes in the early stage of the innovation process – the front end of innovation. The innovation is augmented reality (AR) that adds digital made graphics or information in the user's environment. To answer the research questions and to fulfill the purpose of this thesis, which is to gain an understanding of the role of a prototype in an innovation process, a prototype was created. The designing tools used for developing the prototype were brainstorming and storyboarding. The prototype presents a concept of using AR-glasses at an ice hockey venue. A workshop was carried out for evaluating the finished prototype, using the "thinking hats"-method. The conclusion of this study is that a prototype can be used as a starting point for further creativity by creating a common perspective of a technology at the front end of innovation. Further on, it was discovered that a prototype can be good to use earlier in their innovation process, to accelerate the process. In the process of designing the prototype, it was shown that the creation is iterative, rather than linear.