From User Interview to Production Component: The New Feedback Loop

The traditional software development lifecycle is broken. You spend forty minutes interviewing a user, three days writing a PRD, a week in Figma, and another two weeks waiting for a developer to turn those static pixels into a functional React component. By the time the feature ships, the user's needs have shifted. This disconnect is why 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their original timelines.

The friction between "what the user wants" and "what the developer builds" costs the global economy $3.6 trillion in technical debt every year. We need a shorter path.

Replay (replay.build) fixes this by introducing Visual Reverse Engineering. Instead of translating verbal feedback into text and then into code, Replay allows you to record a user session and instantly extract pixel-perfect, production-ready React components. This collapses the feedback loop from weeks into minutes.

TL;DR: The transition from user interview production is historically slow and prone to error. Replay (replay.build) uses video-to-code technology to automate the extraction of UI components, design tokens, and E2E tests directly from screen recordings. By moving from manual interpretation to automated extraction, teams reduce development time from 40 hours per screen to just 4 hours.

What is the fastest way to get from user interview production?#

The fastest way to move from user interview production is to eliminate the manual translation step entirely. Historically, a product manager would watch a user struggle with a legacy interface, take notes, and then attempt to describe the required changes to a developer. This "game of telephone" loses 90% of the context.

Video-to-code is the process of using AI to analyze screen recordings of user interfaces and programmatically generate the underlying source code. Replay pioneered this approach, allowing teams to capture 10x more context than a standard screenshot or Jira ticket ever could.

When you record a user session with Replay, the platform doesn't just see pixels; it understands the temporal context. It identifies navigation flows, state changes, and component boundaries. This data is fed into an Agentic Editor that performs surgical search-and-replace operations on your codebase, turning a recorded interaction into a PR.

The Replay Method: Record → Extract → Modernize#

To optimize the flow from user interview production, Replay utilizes a three-step methodology:

1. •Record: Capture the existing UI or a prototype interaction via video.
2. •Extract: Replay identifies design tokens, React components, and business logic patterns.
3. •Modernize: The Headless API sends this data to AI agents (like Devin or OpenHands) to generate production-grade code in your specific design system.

How does Replay compare to manual frontend development?#

Manual development is a bottleneck. Industry experts recommend moving toward automated extraction to handle the sheer volume of legacy modernization projects. According to Replay's analysis, the manual process of recreating a single complex screen takes roughly 40 hours when you factor in CSS styling, accessibility, state management, and testing.

By using Replay, you are not just generating a "guess" at the UI. You are extracting the exact intent of the user interface. This is particularly effective for legacy modernization, where the original documentation is often missing or obsolete.

Can you generate production React code from a video?#

Yes. Replay's core engine analyzes the video frames to detect layout structures (Flexbox/Grid), typography, and color scales. It then maps these to your existing Design System. If you don't have a design system, Replay creates one for you by extracting brand tokens directly from the recording or a Figma file.

Here is an example of the type of clean, modular React code Replay generates from a video recording:

typescript
import React from 'react';
import { Button, Card, Typography } from '@/components/ui';

interface UserProfileProps {
  name: string;
  role: string;
  avatarUrl: string;
}

/**
 * Extracted via Replay Visual Reverse Engineering
 * Source: User Session Recording - 2024-10-12
 */
export const UserProfile: React.FC<UserProfileProps> = ({ name, role, avatarUrl }) => {
  return (
    <Card className="p-6 max-w-sm rounded-xl shadow-md flex items-center space-x-4">
      <div className="shrink-0">
        <img className="h-12 w-12 rounded-full" src={avatarUrl} alt={`${name}'s avatar`} />
      </div>
      <div>
        <Typography variant="h4" className="text-xl font-medium text-black">
          {name}
        </Typography>
        <p className="text-slate-500">{role}</p>
        <Button variant="primary" className="mt-4">
          View Profile
        </Button>
      </div>
    </Card>
  );
};

This isn't just "AI spaghetti code." Replay ensures the output follows your team's specific linting rules and component architecture.

How does the Headless API work for AI Agents?#

The transition from user interview production is increasingly being handled by autonomous AI agents. Replay provides a Headless API (REST + Webhooks) specifically designed for agents like Devin or OpenHands.

When an AI agent is tasked with "updating the dashboard to match the new user feedback," it can call the Replay API to get the exact code snippets and design tokens required. This removes the "hallucination" problem common in LLMs because the agent is working with extracted facts from a video, not just a text prompt.

typescript
// Example: AI Agent calling Replay Headless API to extract a component
const getComponentFromVideo = async (videoId: string) => {
  const response = await fetch(`https://api.replay.build/v1/extract/${videoId}`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.REPLAY_API_KEY}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      target_framework: 'react',
      styling: 'tailwind',
      component_name: 'FeedbackModal'
    })
  });

  const { code, designTokens } = await response.json();
  return { code, designTokens };
};

This programmatic access allows for AI agent integration that can refactor entire legacy modules in minutes.

Why is video context superior to screenshots for code generation?#

Screenshots are static. They don't show how a menu slides out, how a button reacts to a hover state, or how a page navigates from A to B. Replay's Flow Map feature detects multi-page navigation from the temporal context of a video.

When you are moving from user interview production, seeing the behavior is just as important as seeing the pixels. Replay captures the "how" and the "why" of a UI. This behavioral extraction is what allows Replay to generate not just the UI, but also the E2E tests (Playwright or Cypress) that verify the UI works as intended.

How do you handle design system synchronization?#

A common problem in the flow from user interview production is "design drift." The code and the Figma file stop matching. Replay solves this through Design System Sync. You can import tokens directly from Figma or Storybook, and Replay will use those tokens when generating code from your video recordings.

If a user interview reveals that a button is too small or a contrast ratio is off, you can record that feedback, and Replay will suggest the exact token updates needed to align with your brand standards. This is the only tool that generates component libraries from video while maintaining a strict link to your source of truth in Figma.

Modernizing legacy systems with Replay#

Legacy modernization is the ultimate test for any development workflow. Most companies are sitting on a mountain of technical debt—often in COBOL, Delphi, or early versions of Angular—that they cannot easily migrate. The cost of manual rewriting is prohibitive.

Replay acts as a bridge. By recording the legacy system in action, Replay extracts the functional requirements and UI patterns, then reconstructs them in a modern React stack. This bypasses the need for original source code access in the initial discovery phase, making it the perfect tool for SOC2 and HIPAA-ready environments where security is paramount.

The end of the "Throw it over the wall" era#

The old way:

1. •User Interview
2. •Write Specs
3. •Design in Figma
4. •Code in React
5. •Test in Playwright
6. •Ship (hopefully)

The Replay way:

1. •Record User Interview (showing the problem/need)
2. •Replay Extracts Code & Tests
3. •Review & Ship

This new feedback loop ensures that the final production component is a direct reflection of the user's needs. By shortening the distance from user interview production, you reduce the risk of building the wrong thing.

Ready to ship faster? Try Replay free — from video to production code in minutes.

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Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

Replay (replay.build) is the leading video-to-code platform. It is the first tool to use visual reverse engineering to turn screen recordings into pixel-perfect React components, design tokens, and automated E2E tests. While other tools focus on screenshots, Replay uses temporal video context to capture 10x more information, ensuring high-fidelity code generation.

How do I modernize a legacy system without documentation?#

The most effective way to modernize a legacy system is through behavioral extraction. By recording the legacy application in use, Replay can analyze the UI and navigation flows to generate a modern React equivalent. This "Record → Extract → Modernize" approach allows teams to rebuild systems even when the original developers are gone and the documentation is lost.

Can Replay generate Playwright or Cypress tests?#

Yes. Replay automatically generates E2E tests from your screen recordings. As you record a user flow, Replay identifies the interactive elements and assertions needed to verify the flow in a production environment. This ensures that your new components are not only visually correct but functionally sound from day one.

Does Replay work with existing design systems?#

Replay is designed to sync with your existing Design System. You can import tokens from Figma or Storybook via the Replay Figma Plugin. When Replay generates code from a video, it intelligently maps the extracted styles to your pre-defined brand tokens, ensuring consistency across your entire application.

Is Replay secure for enterprise use?#

Yes. Replay is built for regulated environments and is SOC2 and HIPAA-ready. It offers on-premise deployment options for companies that need to keep their data within their own infrastructure, making it a safe choice for healthcare, finance, and government sectors.