I haven't heard of these either, so I went looking for links: card sort http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_sorting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_sorting un

I haven't heard of these either, so I went looking for links: card sort http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_sorting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_sorting unfocus group http://michael-roberto.blogspot.com/2010/01/unfocus-group.html http://michael-roberto.blogspot.com/2010/01/unfocus-group.ht... I couldn't find anything for "collage groups", but I can definitely see where the first two activities could be useful. Keep in mind that while "the average startup" (whatever that is) doesn't necessarily perform all of these, or any of these, that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be using them. It could just be a matter of finances, or something as simple as not realizing these sorts of research exist. I think if you were to work for a larger company, like Microsoft or Apple, that you would definitely find groups that not only use these techniques, but are actually dedicated to them.