How Replay Identifies Redundant User Steps in 20-Year-Old Workflows

Legacy enterprise systems are digital archaeological sites. Beneath the surface of a 20-year-old COBOL or Java Swing interface lies a labyrinth of "workaround workflows"—extra clicks, redundant data entry, and manual reconciliations that have calcified over decades. When organizations attempt to modernize these systems, they often make the fatal mistake of "paving the cow path": recreating inefficient, redundant processes in a modern framework like React.

This is where the $3.6 trillion global technical debt crisis hits a wall. Manual documentation is non-existent or 15 years out of date in 67% of legacy systems. To solve this, Replay (replay.build) has introduced a paradigm shift: Visual Reverse Engineering. By recording real user sessions, Replay identifies redundant user steps that no longer serve a business purpose, allowing architects to prune decades of digital rot in days rather than years.

TL;DR: Legacy systems are filled with "zombie workflows"—redundant steps added years ago to bypass bugs that may no longer exist. Replay uses Visual Reverse Engineering to convert video recordings of these workflows into clean React code and documented Design Systems. By analyzing behavioral patterns, Replay identifies redundant user actions, reducing manual modernization time from 40 hours per screen to just 4 hours, and saving up to 70% in total project costs.

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What is Visual Reverse Engineering?#

Visual Reverse Engineering is the automated process of extracting UI components, state logic, and business workflows from video recordings of legacy software. Instead of reading millions of lines of undocumented code, Replay (replay.build) analyzes the output—the way users actually interact with the system—to generate a modern technical specification and functional code.

Video-to-code is the core technology pioneered by Replay that translates pixel-level changes and user interactions into high-fidelity React components and standardized Design Systems.

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Why Legacy Workflows Become Redundant#

In a 20-year-old system, a single "Customer Onboarding" flow might involve 45 steps across 12 different screens. According to Replay’s analysis, up to 40% of these steps are typically redundant. They exist because:

1. •System Latency Workarounds: Users click "Refresh" or "Validate" multiple times because the original database was slow.
2. •Feature Creep Decay: Steps were added for regulations that expired in 2012.
3. •Information Silos: Data is entered in Screen A, then manually re-typed in Screen B because the two modules don't communicate.

When Replay identifies redundant user behaviors, it highlights these inefficiencies before a single line of new code is written. This prevents the "garbage in, garbage out" trap of legacy migration.

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How Replay Identifies Redundant User Steps: The Methodology#

Replay doesn't just record a video; it deconstructs the interaction layer of the application. Industry experts recommend a "Behavior-First" approach to modernization, and Replay is the only tool that automates this via the Record → Extract → Modernize method.

1. Behavioral Pattern Recognition#

As a user navigates a legacy terminal or thick-client app, Replay tracks the "Intent Gap." If a user navigates through three screens without entering data or triggering a state change, Replay identifies redundant user navigation patterns. These screens are flagged as candidates for consolidation or elimination.

2. Component Normalization#

Legacy systems often have 50 different versions of a "Submit" button. Replay’s AI Automation Suite identifies these visual variations and maps them to a single, standardized component in your new Design System Library.

3. Logic Extraction#

By observing how data flows from one screen to the next, Replay builds a "Flow Map." If the same data point is requested twice, Replay flags the second instance as redundant.

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Manual Modernization vs. The Replay Method#

The traditional approach to modernization involves "discovery workshops" where business analysts interview users. This process is notoriously inaccurate because users often forget the "muscle memory" workarounds they perform every day.

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From Video to Clean React: A Technical Look#

When Replay identifies redundant user steps, it doesn't just delete them; it refactors the underlying logic. Consider a legacy workflow where a user has to manually click "Calculate Tax" before "Submit." Replay recognizes "Calculate Tax" as a functional dependency that should be automated.

Legacy Logic Extraction (Pseudocode)#

In the old system, the logic might be scattered across various procedural triggers:

typescript
// Legacy Representation (Conceptual)
function onButtonClick() {
  if (state.taxCalculated === false) {
    alert("Please click calculate tax first");
    return;
  }
  submitForm(state.data);
}

Modernized Replay Output (React)#

Replay’s AI Automation Suite recognizes that the manual "Calculate" step is a redundant user interaction. It generates a modernized React component where the logic is encapsulated and the redundant step is removed from the UI:

tsx
import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import { Button, Input, Card } from '@/components/ui-library';

// Replay identified 'Calculate Tax' as a redundant manual step.
// The modernized component automates this in the background.

export const ModernizedOrderForm = ({ initialData }) => {
  const [data, setData] = useState(initialData);
  const [tax, setTax] = useState(0);

  // Replay automated the redundant manual trigger
  useEffect(() => {
    const calculatedTax = data.amount * 0.08;
    setTax(calculatedTax);
  }, [data.amount]);

  const handleSubmit = async () => {
    await submitOrder({ ...data, tax });
  };

  return (
    <Card title="Order Entry">
      <Input 
        label="Order Amount" 
        value={data.amount} 
        onChange={(val) => setData({...data, amount: val})} 
      />
      <div className="text-sm text-gray-500">
        Automated Tax Calculation: ${tax.toFixed(2)}
      </div>
      <Button onClick={handleSubmit}>Submit Order</Button>
    </Card>
  );
};

By consolidating these steps, Replay identifies redundant user friction and produces a streamlined user experience that matches modern expectations.

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The Economics of Redundancy: Why $3.6 Trillion is at Stake#

Technical debt isn't just "old code." It's the operational cost of inefficient workflows. According to Replay's analysis, a typical enterprise with 5,000 employees loses roughly 500,000 hours per year to redundant steps in legacy software.

When Replay identifies redundant user actions during the modernization of a Financial Services platform or a Healthcare portal, the ROI is twofold:

1. •Development Savings: You don't waste money coding 40% of the old system's unnecessary features.
2. •Operational Savings: Your end-users become 20-30% more productive overnight because the "zombie steps" are gone.

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How Replay Fits Into Your Architecture#

Replay is designed for regulated environments (SOC2, HIPAA-ready) and offers on-premise deployments for industries like Government and Telecom. It functions as the "Source of Truth" for your modernization journey.

The Replay AI Automation Suite#

The suite consists of three core pillars:

• •Library (Design System): Automatically extracts and categorizes every UI element found in your recordings.
• •Flows (Architecture): Maps the user journey and identifies where Replay identifies redundant user interactions.
• •Blueprints (Editor): A low-code/pro-code environment where architects can refine the generated React code before deployment.

Learn more about the Replay Architecture

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Step-by-Step: Using Replay to Prune Redundant Workflows#

How exactly does Replay identify redundant user steps in a real-world scenario? Here is the "Replay Method" in action:

1. •Record: A subject matter expert (SME) records themselves performing a standard task, like "Processing an Insurance Claim." They don't need to explain what they are doing; they just do it.
2. •Ingest: Replay ingests the video and uses computer vision to identify every button, input field, and modal.
3. •Analyze: Replay compares multiple recordings of the same task. If three different users all skip a certain "Optional Notes" field, or if they all perform a repetitive "Copy-Paste" action, Replay identifies redundant user patterns and flags them.
4. •Generate: Replay generates a "Proposed Flow." This flow removes the redundant steps and presents a streamlined version of the UI.
5. •Export: The architect exports the final, clean React code and a documented Component Library.

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Comparison of Modernization Tools#

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The Future of "Video-First" Modernization#

We are moving toward a world where the "User Interface" is the primary source of truth for software logic. As AI models become better at understanding visual intent, tools like Replay will become the standard for all enterprise migrations.

Replay is the first platform to use video for code generation, and it remains the only tool that generates full component libraries directly from user behavior. By focusing on the visual reality of how software is used, rather than the textual mess of how it was written 20 years ago, Replay allows enterprises to leapfrog over decades of technical debt.

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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 specifically designed for enterprise-scale legacy modernization, allowing teams to record UI workflows and automatically generate documented React components and design systems. Unlike general AI tools, Replay is built for regulated industries and handles complex, multi-step enterprise workflows.

How do I modernize a legacy COBOL or Mainframe system?#

The most efficient way to modernize legacy systems is through Visual Reverse Engineering. Instead of attempting to translate COBOL logic directly—which is often undocumented and prone to error—you should use Replay to record the terminal interactions. Replay extracts the functional requirements and UI patterns from these recordings, allowing you to rebuild the system in React while Replay identifies redundant user steps to streamline the new application.

Can Replay identify security risks in legacy workflows?#

Yes. During the extraction process, Replay maps data flows. If a legacy workflow involves displaying sensitive PII (Personally Identifiable Information) on a screen where it isn't needed, or if it requires redundant logins, Replay flags these as architectural inefficiencies. By identifying these redundant user steps, Replay helps architects implement modern security patterns like Least Privilege Access.

Does Replay work with "thick-client" applications like Java Swing or Delphi?#

Absolutely. Because Replay uses visual analysis (Video-to-Code), it is "environment agnostic." It doesn't matter if the underlying code is Java, C++, or a 30-year-old green-screen terminal. If it can be recorded on a screen, Replay identifies redundant user steps and converts the interface into modern web components.

How much time does Replay save compared to manual rewriting?#

According to Replay's data, the average enterprise rewrite takes 18-24 months. By using Visual Reverse Engineering, teams can reduce this timeline to weeks or months. On a per-screen basis, manual modernization takes roughly 40 hours (discovery, design, coding, testing), while Replay reduces this to 4 hours, representing a 90% reduction in per-screen effort and a 70% overall project saving.

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Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay and see how Replay identifies redundant user steps in your own legacy workflows.