Summary: Although postmortems are one of the most powerful learning tools in product development, most teams haven't yet discovered how to use them effectively.

The concept of postmortem is borrowed from engineering teams, who've been using postmortems for years to prevent catastrophic bugs. They’re one of the most underutilized tools in product development. When adapted thoughtfully for UX and product work, they create a systematic way to learn from both our successes and our failures, but most teams either skip them entirely or do them so poorly that they might as well not bother.

Let's fix that.

What Postmortems Are (And Aren't)

When to Hold Postmortems

What Belongs in a Postmortem

The Anatomy of a Good Postmortem

UX-Specific Considerations

Making Postmortems Part of Your Culture

The Goal: Systematic Improvement

What Postmortems Are (And Aren't)

A postmortem is a structured analysis of a completed project that examines what happened, why it happened, and what systemic changes are needed as a…