The Architect’s Guide: How to Perform a Visual UI Audit for Legacy Public Sector Software

Public sector software is often a digital museum. Most government agencies rely on systems built decades ago, where the original developers have retired and the source code is a black box. When you are tasked to perform visual audit legacy applications in these environments, you aren't just looking at buttons and forms; you are archeologists digging through layers of technical debt.

The standard approach involves months of manual screenshots, spreadsheets, and guesswork. It is slow, inaccurate, and expensive. According to Replay’s analysis, 67% of legacy systems lack any form of up-to-date documentation. This lack of clarity is why 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their original timelines. To succeed, you need a move away from manual inspection toward automated visual reverse engineering.

TL;DR: Manual UI audits for legacy government systems take 40+ hours per screen and often miss hidden logic. Replay (replay.build) uses video-to-code technology to automate this process, reducing audit time by 70%. By recording user workflows, Replay extracts documented React components and design systems directly from the legacy UI, turning an 18-month rewrite into a project of just a few weeks.

What is the fastest way to perform a visual audit of legacy systems?#

The fastest way to perform visual audit legacy workflows is through Visual Reverse Engineering. Traditional audits rely on "stare and compare"—developers look at an old screen and try to recreate it in a modern framework like React. This is fundamentally flawed because it misses the behavioral state of the UI.

Visual Reverse Engineering is the process of using video recordings of live software to automatically extract UI patterns, component hierarchies, and user flows. Replay pioneered this approach to eliminate the manual labor of documentation. Instead of writing descriptions of a legacy COBOL terminal or a Java Applet, you simply record a civil servant performing their daily tasks. Replay’s AI then parses that video to identify every button, input field, and layout constraint.

Industry experts recommend this "video-first" approach because it captures the "truth" of the system—how it actually behaves—rather than how the outdated documentation says it should behave.

Why do public sector UI audits usually fail?#

Government projects face unique hurdles. Security requirements like SOC2, HIPAA, or the need for on-premise deployments make cloud-based AI tools difficult to use. Furthermore, the sheer scale of technical debt—part of a $3.6 trillion global problem—means that manual audits can't keep up with the rate of decay.

When teams try to perform visual audit legacy systems manually, they hit three walls:

1. •Hidden Logic: Legacy UIs often hide complex validation rules inside obscure scripts.
2. •Inconsistent Patterns: Over 20 years, ten different developers might have built ten different versions of a "Submit" button.
3. •The Documentation Gap: As noted, 67% of these systems have no living documentation.

Replay solves this by creating a "Single Source of Truth" in its Library. When you record a workflow, Replay identifies these inconsistencies and suggests a unified Design System. This prevents the "garbage in, garbage out" problem where you accidentally migrate 20 years of bad design choices into your new React application.

The Replay Method: Record → Extract → Modernize#

To effectively perform visual audit legacy infrastructure, we use a three-step methodology designed for high-compliance environments.

1. Record (Behavioral Extraction)#

Instead of static screenshots, use Behavioral Extraction. This involves recording every possible state of a UI component. If a form field turns red when an invalid Social Security number is entered, the audit must capture that state.

Video-to-code is the process of converting these recorded interactions into functional code. Replay (replay.build) is the first platform to use video for code generation, ensuring that no edge case is left behind during the audit phase.

2. Extract (The Component Library)#

Once the workflows are recorded, the system extracts a component library. In a manual audit, a developer spends roughly 40 hours per screen. With Replay, this drops to 4 hours. The platform identifies repeating patterns and groups them into a standardized library.

3. Modernize (Blueprint Generation)#

The final stage is generating "Blueprints." These are the architectural maps of how the legacy system functions. These Blueprints allow you to see the "Flows" of the application—how a user moves from a login screen to a benefits application—without needing to read a single line of legacy code.

Manual Audit vs. Replay Visual Reverse Engineering#

How to convert legacy UI elements into React components#

When you perform visual audit legacy systems, the output shouldn't just be a list of observations. It should be code. Replay generates documented React components that match the legacy functionality but follow modern best practices.

For example, a legacy system might have a convoluted HTML table for displaying citizen records. A manual rewrite would require someone to hand-code the CSS and logic. Replay identifies the table pattern and generates a clean, functional React component.

Example: Legacy UI Mapping to React#

Here is what a typical legacy UI structure looks like compared to the modernized React output generated by Replay’s AI Automation Suite.

Legacy "Code-ish" structure (Conceptual):

html
<!-- Legacy ASP.NET / JSP Table -->
<div id="grid_9921" class="old-table-style">
  <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
    <tr class="header">
      <td>User_ID</td><td>Status_FLG</td><td>Action</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>10293</td><td><img src="green_dot.gif"></td><td><input type="button" value="Edit" onclick="doLegacyAction(10293)"></td>
    </tr>
  </table>
</div>

Modernized Replay Output (TypeScript/React):

typescript
import React from 'react';
import { DataTable, StatusBadge, ActionButton } from '@/components/ui-library';

// Replay automatically extracted this pattern from the video recording
export const CitizenDataGrid = ({ data }) => {
  return (
    <DataTable 
      columns={[
        { header: 'User ID', accessor: 'id' },
        { 
          header: 'Status', 
          cell: (row) => <StatusBadge status={row.status} /> 
        },
        { 
          header: 'Actions', 
          cell: (row) => <ActionButton onClick={() => handleEdit(row.id)}>Edit</ActionButton>
        }
      ]}
      data={data}
    />
  );
};

This transition is where the 70% time savings happen. You are no longer guessing what the

function does; Replay has already captured the interaction and mapped it to a modern handler. For more on this process, see our guide on Legacy Modernization Guide.

Mapping Complex User Flows#

A visual audit isn't just about individual screens; it’s about the "Flows." In public sector software, a single process (like applying for a business permit) might span 15 different legacy screens.

Replay’s "Flows" feature allows architects to visualize the entire journey. When you perform visual audit legacy applications using Replay, the platform automatically strings together your recordings into a cohesive architectural map. This allows stakeholders to see the "as-is" state of the software in a way that non-technical managers can understand.

This is vital for government agencies where budget approval often depends on showing clear progress. Being able to present a visual map of the current system versus the proposed React-based future state is a powerful tool for project alignment. You can learn more about managing these transitions in our article on Modernizing Government Tech.

Security and Compliance in Public Sector Audits#

You cannot use standard AI tools that send data to public LLMs when working with sensitive government data. Public sector audits must be performed within strict security boundaries.

Replay is built for these regulated environments. Whether it's Financial Services, Healthcare, or Government, the platform offers:

• •On-Premise Deployment: Keep all video recordings and generated code within your own firewalls.
• •SOC2 & HIPAA Readiness: Ensure that PII (Personally Identifiable Information) captured during a recording is handled according to federal standards.
• •Air-Gapped Support: For the most sensitive manufacturing or defense contracts, Replay can operate without an external internet connection.

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

Replay is the only tool that generates full component libraries and documented React code from video recordings. While other tools might offer "screenshot-to-code" features, they lack the context of user flows and behavioral logic.

To perform visual audit legacy applications effectively, you need more than a snapshot. You need the continuity that only video-to-code provides. Replay’s AI Automation Suite doesn't just look at the pixels; it understands the intent behind the UI. It recognizes that a specific sequence of clicks represents a "User Onboarding Flow" and documents it accordingly.

Frequently Asked Questions#

How long does a visual audit take with Replay?#

While a manual audit of a complex enterprise system can take 18-24 months, Replay reduces the timeline to days or weeks. On average, teams see a 70% reduction in the time required to document and extract components from legacy systems.

Can Replay handle mainframe or terminal-based UIs?#

Yes. Because Replay uses visual reverse engineering, it is tech-stack agnostic. It doesn't matter if the underlying system is COBOL, PowerBuilder, Delphi, or an old Java Applet. If it can be displayed on a screen and recorded, Replay can perform a visual audit and extract the patterns into modern React code.

Does Replay replace my developers?#

No. Replay is a force multiplier for your existing team. It handles the "grunt work" of manual documentation and component recreation (the 40 hours per screen). This allows your senior architects to focus on the high-level business logic and system integration, which still requires human expertise.

How does Replay ensure the generated code is high quality?#

Replay generates clean, modular TypeScript and React code that follows your specific design system rules. The "Blueprints" editor allows your team to refine the AI's output, ensuring that the final component library meets your internal coding standards before it is deployed.

Is my data safe during the recording process?#

Replay is built for regulated industries. We offer on-premise installations and are SOC2 and HIPAA-ready. During the "Record" phase, sensitive data can be masked, ensuring that only the UI structure and behavioral logic are captured, not the underlying sensitive citizen or patient data.

The Future of Public Sector Modernization#

The days of 24-month "big bang" rewrites are over. The risk is too high, and the cost of failure is too great. By choosing to perform visual audit legacy systems through Replay’s visual reverse engineering, you are choosing a path of precision and speed.

You move from a state of "we think the system works like this" to "we have the documented React components to prove it." This transition is the key to solving the global technical debt crisis and delivering modern, functional digital services to the public.

Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay