postmortem analysis
After-the-fact review
A postmortem analysis is a systematic review conducted after something has ended—typically a project, incident, or failed initiative—to understand what happened and why.
The term borrows from medical postmortems (autopsies) but applies to events rather than bodies: The team conducted a postmortem analysis of the product launch.
In software development, postmortems often follow system outages or bugs.
The focus is usually on learning rather than blame, though the two aren't always kept separate.
- retrospectiveReviewing what came before
- autopsyMedical examination after death
- cause of deathWhy someone died
- time of deathWhen someone officially dies
- lessons learnedKnowledge from experience
coroner · pathology · toxicology · forensic science · body of evidence · debriefing · morgue · histology · cadaver · medical examiner · process improvement · continuous improvement · death certificate · behavioral patterns · necropsy · social dynamics · coping mechanisms · incident report
- forensic pathologyautopsy, coroner, medical examiner, cause of death, pathologist
- forensicsDNA, fingerprints, forensics, criminalistics, fingerprint
- toxicologytoxicology, poison, toxin, venom, toxicity
postmortem analysisadvance planning
Preparing for future events
preview · feasibility study · due diligence · pre-mortem · premortem
postmortem analysisforecasting
Estimating future conditions
forecast · prediction · projection · prognostication · risk assessment
mortem, analysis, postmortem, mortal, mortality, immortal, immortality, mortify, mortification