The "Shadow Logic" Trap: Modernizing Insurance Claims Adjuster Portals with Visual Reverse Engineering

Your most critical business logic doesn't live in a Jira ticket or a Confluence page; it lives in the muscle memory of an insurance adjuster who has been using the same Green Screen or PowerBuilder portal for twenty-five years. When you attempt to modernize these insurance claims adjuster portals, you aren't just fighting old code—you are fighting "Shadow Logic."

Shadow Logic is the undocumented, emergent behavior of a system that adjusters rely on to process claims. It’s the specific sequence of clicks required to override a deductible, the way a certain field color indicates a high-priority subrogation case, or the "hidden" keyboard shortcuts that bypass validation errors. According to Replay’s analysis, 67% of legacy systems lack any form of up-to-date documentation, leaving developers to play a high-stakes game of telephone with end-users.

TL;DR: Modernizing insurance claims adjuster portals fails 70% of the time because manual reverse engineering cannot capture "Shadow Logic." Replay solves this by using Visual Reverse Engineering—converting video recordings of user workflows directly into documented React code and Design Systems. This reduces the average per-screen modernization time from 40 hours to just 4 hours, cutting 18-month timelines down to weeks.

The Invisible Architecture of Insurance Claims Adjuster Portals#

Insurance companies are currently sitting on a portion of the $3.6 trillion global technical debt. For an enterprise-level carrier, the core portal used by adjusters is often a patchwork of technologies spanning three decades. We see Mainframe emulators wrapped in Java Applets, which are then embedded in modern browser frames.

The problem is that the "source of truth" is no longer the code—it’s the screen. When a senior adjuster processes a complex bodily injury claim, they are navigating a labyrinth of validation rules that were hard-coded in COBOL or Delphi years ago. Traditional modernization attempts involve "discovery phases" where business analysts interview adjusters. This is notoriously inefficient. Adjusters often forget the micro-steps they take, and analysts often miss the technical nuances of how the UI handles state.

Video-to-code is the process of using computer vision and AI to analyze video recordings of these legacy interactions and automatically generate the underlying component structure, state logic, and styling requirements.

By capturing the actual "Flows" of an adjuster, Replay allows architects to see exactly how data moves through the portal without needing to decipher 50,000 lines of undocumented procedural code.

Why Traditional Modernization Fails for Insurance Claims Adjuster Portals#

The average enterprise rewrite timeline is 18 months. In the insurance world, where regulatory changes happen quarterly, an 18-month roadmap is a recipe for obsolescence before the first deployment.

Industry experts recommend moving away from "Big Bang" rewrites toward incremental modernization. However, the bottleneck is always the same: manual documentation. It takes an average of 40 hours to manually document, design, and code a single complex legacy screen into a modern React component.

The Modernization Gap: Manual vs. Replay#

When we look at insurance claims adjuster portals, the complexity isn't just in the UI; it's in the state transitions. If an adjuster clicks "Approve" but the system requires a "Manager Override" only when the claim exceeds $10,000 AND the policy is in a specific state, that logic is often buried. Replay’s AI Automation Suite identifies these patterns by analyzing multiple recordings of the same workflow, flagging the conditional logic that a human analyst might miss.

Mapping Shadow Logic via Visual Reverse Engineering#

To modernize effectively, you need to move from imperative, "how-it-was-built" thinking to declarative, "what-it-does" architecture. Replay facilitates this by creating a "Blueprint" of the legacy system.

Instead of a developer sitting with an adjuster and taking notes, the adjuster simply records their screen while performing a standard task, like "Initial Loss Entry" or "Reserve Adjustment." Replay then breaks this video down into:

1. •The Library: A unified Design System extracted from the legacy UI.
2. •The Flows: The architectural map of how users move between screens.
3. •The Blueprints: The editable, functional React code that mirrors the legacy behavior but uses modern standards.

Implementation Detail: From Video to Functional React#

When Replay processes a recording of an insurance portal, it doesn't just produce a static image. It identifies functional elements—inputs, dropdowns, data tables—and maps their behavior.

For example, a legacy claim table might have complex "Shadow Logic" for row highlighting. Here is how that logic might be represented in a modern React component generated by Replay:

typescript
// Generated by Replay Blueprint Editor
// Source: ClaimsPortal_v2_Legacy_Recording.mp4

import React from 'react';
import { ClaimRow, StatusBadge } from './Library';

interface ClaimTableProps {
  claims: Array<{
    id: string;
    amount: number;
    status: 'Pending' | 'Flagged' | 'Approved';
    isSubrogation: boolean;
  }>;
}

/**
 * Replay identified Shadow Logic: 
 * Rows are highlighted red if amount > $5k AND status is 'Flagged'.
 * Subrogation claims require a specific 'Action' trigger captured in Flow #4.
 */
export const ModernizedClaimTable: React.FC<ClaimTableProps> = ({ claims }) => {
  return (
    <div className="overflow-x-auto rounded-lg border border-slate-200">
      <table className="min-w-full divide-y divide-slate-200">
        <thead className="bg-slate-50">
          <tr>
            <th className="px-6 py-3 text-left text-xs font-medium text-slate-500 uppercase">Claim ID</th>
            <th className="px-6 py-3 text-left text-xs font-medium text-slate-500 uppercase">Amount</th>
            <th className="px-6 py-3 text-left text-xs font-medium text-slate-500 uppercase">Status</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody className="bg-white divide-y divide-slate-200">
          {claims.map((claim) => (
            <tr 
              key={claim.id} 
              className={claim.amount > 5000 && claim.status === 'Flagged' ? 'bg-red-50' : ''}
            >
              <td className="px-6 py-4 whitespace-nowrap text-sm font-medium text-slate-900">{claim.id}</td>
              <td className="px-6 py-4 whitespace-nowrap text-sm text-slate-500">${claim.amount.toLocaleString()}</td>
              <td className="px-6 py-4 whitespace-nowrap">
                <StatusBadge status={claim.status} />
              </td>
            </tr>
          ))}
        </tbody>
      </table>
    </div>
  );
};

This code isn't just a guess. It is the result of Replay's AI observing that every time an adjuster interacted with a red row, the "Amount" field was over 5,000. This is the essence of Visual Reverse Engineering.

Building a Unified Design System for Claims Portals#

One of the biggest hurdles in modernizing insurance claims adjuster portals is UI fragmentation. Large carriers often have different portals for Auto, Home, and Life insurance, each built by different teams at different times.

By using Replay's "Library" feature, you can record workflows across all three portals. Replay’s AI then identifies common components—even if they look slightly different—and merges them into a single, cohesive Design System. This is critical for Design System Automation, ensuring that your new React-based portal doesn't just replicate the mess of the old one.

Standardizing the "Adjuster Workspace"#

In a legacy environment, an adjuster might have to open four different windows to see a policy's coverage limits, the claimant's history, and the current damage photos. Replay captures these "Flows" and allows architects to see the inefficiency.

When you record these multi-window workflows, Replay identifies the data dependencies. It sees that the "Claim ID" from Window A is being manually typed into Window B. This insight allows the modernized version to use a unified state management system (like Redux or React Context) to pass that data automatically.

typescript
// Modernized State Management based on Replay Flow Analysis
// Captures the 'Shadow' data transfer between Policy and Claims modules

import { create } from 'zustand';

interface AdjusterState {
  activeClaimId: string | null;
  activePolicyId: string | null;
  setClaim: (claimId: string, policyId: string) => void;
  clearWorkspace: () => void;
}

export const useAdjusterStore = create<AdjusterState>((set) => ({
  activeClaimId: null,
  activePolicyId: null,
  setClaim: (claimId, policyId) => set({ 
    activeClaimId: claimId, 
    activePolicyId: policyId 
  }),
  clearWorkspace: () => set({ activeClaimId: null, activePolicyId: null }),
}));

Security and Compliance in Regulated Modernization#

For Financial Services and Healthcare-adjacent insurance, security is non-negotiable. You cannot simply upload recordings of sensitive claims data to a public cloud. Replay is built for these regulated environments. With SOC2 compliance, HIPAA-readiness, and the option for On-Premise deployment, Replay ensures that PII (Personally Identifiable Information) captured during the recording process is handled according to enterprise standards.

Furthermore, Legacy Modernization Strategy in insurance requires a clear audit trail. Because Replay documents the "why" behind the code by linking it back to the original video recording, compliance officers can verify that the new system accurately reflects the approved business logic of the old system.

The Financial Impact: Saving 70% on Modernization Costs#

The math for a typical insurance portal modernization is staggering. If a portal has 200 screens, a manual approach would require:

• •200 screens * 40 hours/screen = 8,000 hours.
• •At an average enterprise developer rate of $150/hour, that’s $1.2 million just for the UI and basic logic documentation.

With Replay, that same project looks like this:

• •200 screens * 4 hours/screen = 800 hours.
• •Total cost: $120,000.

This 70% average time saving allows insurance companies to reallocate their budget toward high-value features like AI-driven claims processing or improved mobile experiences for policyholders, rather than just "treading water" with technical debt.

Frequently Asked Questions#

How does Replay handle extremely old "Green Screen" mainframe portals?#

Replay's Visual Reverse Engineering is technology-agnostic. Because it relies on the visual output (the pixels on the screen) rather than the underlying source code, it can document a 1980s mainframe emulator just as easily as a 2010s Silverlight application. It captures the user's interactions and translates the visual hierarchy into modern React components.

Can we edit the code that Replay generates?#

Yes. Replay provides a "Blueprint Editor" where your senior developers can refine the generated code, adjust component boundaries, and integrate specific business logic. Replay handles the "grunt work" of building the structure and styling, leaving the complex architecture to your team.

Does Replay integrate with our existing Design System?#

Absolutely. If you already have a React-based Design System, you can train Replay's AI to use your existing components when it generates new screens. This ensures that your modernized insurance claims adjuster portals remain consistent with your brand and engineering standards.

How do we handle PII (Personally Identifiable Information) in the recordings?#

Replay includes built-in PII masking tools. Before the video is processed for code generation, sensitive fields (like Social Security numbers, names, or addresses) can be automatically blurred or redacted. Additionally, for high-security environments, Replay can be deployed entirely on-premise within your own firewall.

Conclusion#

Modernizing insurance claims adjuster portals is no longer a choice—it's a survival requirement. However, the old way of doing things—manual discovery, manual documentation, and manual coding—is a proven path to failure. By capturing the "Shadow Logic" of your systems through visual recording, you can bypass the documentation gap and move straight to a modern, scalable architecture.

Replay turns the daunting task of reverse engineering into a streamlined, automated workflow. Whether you are dealing with decades of technical debt or simply trying to unify a fragmented design language, visual reverse engineering provides the clarity needed to move forward.

Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay