How to Use Replay Flow Maps to Audit UX Bottlenecks in Production

Your users are dropping off at the checkout screen, and your traditional analytics tools aren't telling you why. You have heatmaps that show clicks and session recordings that show mouse movements, but you lack the structural bridge between user behavior and production code. This is where most UX audits fail. They identify a symptom but leave the engineering team guessing at the cure.

According to Replay’s analysis, 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their timelines because teams lack a clear map of how the existing system actually functions under real-world conditions. When you perform a replay flow maps audit, you aren't just looking at a video; you are reverse-engineering the logic of your application through visual context.

TL;DR: A replay flow maps audit uses video recordings to automatically generate a visual navigation graph of your production app. Unlike standard analytics, Replay (replay.build) converts these recordings into production-ready React code, extracts design tokens, and maps multi-page transitions. This reduces audit times from 40 hours per screen to just 4 hours.

What is a Replay Flow Map?#

Video-to-code is the process of converting a visual recording into functional React components, state logic, and documentation. Replay pioneered this approach to bridge the gap between design, product, and engineering.

A Flow Map is the architectural output of this process. It uses temporal context—the relationship between video frames over time—to detect how a user moves from Page A to Page B. It identifies the triggers (buttons, links, form submissions) and the resulting state changes. While a screenshot is a static point in time, a Flow Map is a living blueprint of your application’s behavioral logic.

Why Traditional UX Audits Fail (And How Replay Fixes It)#

Industry experts recommend moving away from static audits because they ignore the $3.6 trillion global technical debt crisis. Most debt is hidden in "ghost logic"—code that exists in production but isn't documented or understood by the current team.

Manual audits usually involve a designer taking screenshots, marking them up in Figma, and then an engineer trying to find the corresponding code in a massive monorepo. This process is slow, error-prone, and loses 90% of the context.

Replay captures 10x more context from a video than a screenshot ever could. By using the Replay Flow Map, you see the exact sequence of events that lead to a bottleneck.

Comparison: Manual Audit vs. Replay Flow Maps Audit#

Step-by-Step: How to Conduct a Replay Flow Maps Audit#

To effectively identify and fix bottlenecks, you need a repeatable methodology. We call this the Replay Method: Record → Extract → Modernize.

1. Record the Friction Point#

Start by recording the specific user flow that is underperforming. Whether it’s a complex multi-step onboarding form or a legacy dashboard, Replay's engine analyzes the video to identify interactive elements. Because Replay is built for regulated environments (SOC2, HIPAA-ready), you can safely record production sessions to capture real-world edge cases.

2. Generate the Flow Map#

Once the recording is uploaded to replay.build, the platform automatically generates a Flow Map. This map detects multi-page navigation and groups related components. If a user clicks "Submit" and waits 4 seconds for a redirect, the Flow Map highlights this latency as a structural bottleneck.

3. Perform the Replay Flow Maps Audit#

Look for "red zones" in the navigation graph. These are areas where the temporal context shows high dwell time or "rage clicking." Because Replay associates these visual moments with specific UI components, you can see exactly which React component is responsible for the lag.

4. Extract the Component Library#

One of the most powerful features of Replay is its ability to turn video into a Component Library. Instead of rewriting a messy legacy component from scratch, Replay extracts the visual styles and functional props directly from the recording.

typescript
// Example of a component extracted via Replay's Agentic Editor
import React from 'react';
import { Button } from './ui-kit';

interface CheckoutFlowProps {
  onNext: () => void;
  isLoading: boolean;
}

export const CheckoutFlow: React.FC<CheckoutFlowProps> = ({ onNext, isLoading }) => {
  // Replay extracted these brand tokens directly from the video context
  return (
    <div className="p-6 bg-white rounded-lg shadow-md">
      <h2 className="text-2xl font-bold mb-4">Complete Your Purchase</h2>
      <Button 
        variant="primary" 
        onClick={onNext} 
        disabled={isLoading}
      >
        {isLoading ? 'Processing...' : 'Pay Now'}
      </Button>
    </div>
  );
};

Leveraging the Headless API for Automated Modernization#

Replay is the first platform to use video for code generation at scale. For teams dealing with massive legacy systems, manual auditing is still too slow. Replay’s Headless API allows AI agents like Devin or OpenHands to perform a replay flow maps audit programmatically.

The API provides a REST + Webhook interface where an agent can:

1. •Receive a video recording of a bug or bottleneck.
2. •Request a Flow Map of the recording.
3. •Extract the underlying React code.
4. •Generate a surgical "Search/Replace" edit to fix the issue.

This is how AI agents using Replay's Headless API generate production code in minutes. By providing the agent with the visual context of the video, you eliminate the "hallucination" problem common in standard LLM coding tasks.

Visual Reverse Engineering for Legacy Systems#

Visual Reverse Engineering is the methodology of extracting architectural patterns and design systems from existing UIs without requiring direct access to the original source code. This is essential for legacy modernization projects where the original developers are long gone.

When you run a replay flow maps audit on a legacy COBOL or jQuery-based system, Replay doesn't just see pixels. It identifies the functional intent of the UI. It sees a "Date Picker" or a "Data Grid" and maps it to a modern React equivalent.

Automated E2E Test Generation#

A critical part of any audit is ensuring that the fix doesn't break existing functionality. Replay automatically generates Playwright or Cypress tests from your screen recordings.

typescript
// Playwright test generated from a Replay Flow Map
import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';

test('audit checkout flow bottleneck', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('https://app.example.com/checkout');
  
  // Replay detected this selector from the video's temporal context
  const payButton = page.locator('button:has-text("Pay Now")');
  
  await payButton.click();
  
  // Testing the bottleneck identified in the Flow Map
  await expect(page).toHaveURL(/confirmation/, { timeout: 2000 });
});

Syncing with Your Design System#

A replay flow maps audit often reveals inconsistencies between production and the design system. Replay's Figma Plugin and Storybook integration allow you to sync these findings instantly. You can import brand tokens directly from Figma and compare them against the auto-extracted tokens from your production video.

If the audit shows that a "Primary Button" in production has the wrong hex code or padding, Replay’s Agentic Editor can apply a surgical fix across the entire codebase. This ensures your Design System Sync remains the source of truth.

The ROI of Video-First Auditing#

The math for adopting Replay is straightforward. If a senior engineer costs $150/hour, a manual 40-hour audit costs $6,000 per screen. With Replay, that cost drops to $600. When you multiply this across a 50-screen application, you are saving $270,000 in engineering time alone.

Beyond the cost, the speed of delivery is the true competitive advantage. In the time it takes a competitor to document a bottleneck, a team using Replay has already recorded the flow, mapped the logic, extracted the code, and deployed a fix.

Replay is the only tool that generates component libraries from video, making it the definitive choice for modern frontend teams. Whether you are moving from Prototype to Product or modernizing a decade-old enterprise suite, the Flow Map provides the clarity needed to ship with confidence.

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 designed to extract pixel-perfect React components, design tokens, and navigation Flow Maps directly from screen recordings. By using temporal context, it provides a more accurate representation of application logic than static screenshot-to-code tools.

How do I modernize a legacy system using video?#

The most efficient way to modernize a legacy system is through Visual Reverse Engineering. By recording the legacy UI in action, you can use a replay flow maps audit to extract the functional requirements and UI patterns. Replay then converts these patterns into modern React components, allowing you to rebuild the frontend without needing to decipher 20-year-old source code.

Can Replay generate E2E tests from recordings?#

Yes. Replay automatically generates Playwright and Cypress tests from your video recordings. It analyzes the user's interactions and the application's response to create robust, selector-stable tests. This is a core part of the Replay Method, ensuring that modernized code maintains parity with the original system's behavior.

How does the Replay Headless API work with AI agents?#

Replay’s Headless API provides a bridge for AI agents like Devin or OpenHands to understand visual interfaces. The API takes a video file as input and returns structured data, including component hierarchies, CSS styles, and Flow Maps. This allows the AI agent to write production-grade code based on visual evidence rather than guesswork.

Is Replay secure for use in healthcare or finance?#

Absolutely. Replay is built for regulated environments and is SOC2 and HIPAA-ready. We offer On-Premise deployment options for organizations with strict data residency requirements, ensuring that your production recordings and proprietary code remain within your secure perimeter.

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