Gesture-based interaction in Augmented Reality (AR) offers new possibilities for enhancing operator support in industrial environments, enabling intuitive, hands-free control of digital systems during physical tasks. This study investigates the usability and user experience of an AR application for defect inspection and equipment calibration in microchip production lines. A user-based evaluation was conducted on-site with ten factory employees performing scenario-driven tasks in a real production setting, following a structured evaluation methodology for the collection of quantitative and qualitative data. The results showed that the AR user interface was clear to understand and that gesture-based interaction was intuitive. The findings suggest that gestures can be effectively used in industrial contexts for hands-free interaction and underscore the potential of AR in supporting decision-making on the factory floor, while also identifying design challenges relevant to the broader integration of AR in manufacturing workflows. The adopted evaluation methodology provides a general-purpose approach for assessing gesture-driven AR systems across diverse application domains.