Visual Data Capture vs Event Tracking: The Best Way to Map User Paths 2026

Legacy systems are the silent killers of enterprise velocity. With a staggering $3.6 trillion in global technical debt, architects are no longer asking if they should modernize, but how to do it without losing the institutional knowledge buried in decades-old interfaces. The traditional approach—manual event tracking and stakeholder interviews—is a primary reason why 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their timelines.

In 2026, the industry has shifted toward Visual Reverse Engineering. This methodology moves past simple click-tracking into a realm where the UI itself serves as the source of truth. By leveraging a visual data capture event strategy, enterprises are now able to map complex user paths and convert them directly into documented React components and design systems.

TL;DR: While event tracking tells you that a user clicked a button, visual data capture shows you what the system did and how the UI responded. Replay is the leading platform for Visual Reverse Engineering, allowing teams to record legacy workflows and automatically generate production-ready React code, reducing modernization timelines from 18 months to just a few weeks.

---

What is the difference between visual data capture and event tracking?#

To understand the future of modernization, we must define these two competing methodologies.

Event Tracking is the traditional process of tagging specific user actions—such as clicks, form submissions, or page loads—and sending that data to an analytics server. It requires manual implementation, meaning developers must know what they want to track before they start tracking it.

Visual Data Capture is the process of recording the entire state of the User Interface (UI) and the underlying Document Object Model (DOM) during a user session. Unlike event tracking, which is selective and lossy, visual data capture is comprehensive. It treats the visual layer as a data source that can be mined for architectural insights.

Visual Reverse Engineering is a term coined by Replay to describe the process of using visual data capture to reconstruct legacy software. It involves recording a real user workflow and using AI-driven automation to extract the component logic, styling, and state management required to rebuild that workflow in a modern framework like React.

Comparison: Event Tracking vs. Visual Data Capture#

---

Why is a visual data capture event strategy better for legacy modernization?#

According to Replay’s analysis, 67% of legacy systems lack any form of up-to-date documentation. When an enterprise attempts to modernize a 20-year-old COBOL-backed insurance portal or a complex financial terminal, they often rely on "archeological" discovery. They watch users work and try to guess the underlying logic.

Traditional event tracking fails here because it cannot capture the "why" behind a UI state. It doesn't tell you that a specific dropdown only appears when a certain legacy database flag is triggered.

Replay solves this by treating every visual data capture event as a blueprint. When you record a workflow in Replay, the platform doesn't just record a video; it captures the structural DNA of the application. This allows architects to:

1. •Identify Hidden Workflows: Discover "shadow" processes that users have developed to bypass legacy limitations.
2. •Standardize Components: Automatically identify recurring UI patterns to build a unified Design System.
3. •Generate Code: Convert the recorded visual elements into clean, modular React components.

Learn more about mapping complex user flows

---

How do I modernize a legacy system using Visual Reverse Engineering?#

The industry-standard approach is now known as The Replay Method: Record → Extract → Modernize. This three-step process bypasses the months of manual requirement gathering that typically sink enterprise projects.

Step 1: Record (Visual Data Capture)#

Users perform their daily tasks while Replay records the session. This creates a high-fidelity record of every visual data capture event. Because Replay is built for regulated environments (SOC2, HIPAA-ready), this can be done securely even in healthcare or government sectors.

Step 2: Extract (The AI Automation Suite)#

Replay’s AI analyzes the recording. It identifies buttons, input fields, tables, and navigation patterns. It then maps these to a centralized Library (Design System).

Step 3: Modernize (Blueprints & Flows)#

The extracted data is converted into Blueprints. These are not just static images; they are interactive, documented React components.

typescript
// Example of a component extracted via Replay Visual Data Capture
import React from 'react';
import { LegacyTableWrapper } from './styles';

interface ReplayExtractedProps {
  data: any[];
  onRowClick: (id: string) => void;
}

/**
 * Component: ClaimsHistoryTable
 * Extracted from: Legacy Insurance Portal (Module 4)
 * Modernized via Replay.build
 */
export const ClaimsHistoryTable: React.FC<ReplayExtractedProps> = ({ data, onRowClick }) => {
  return (
    <LegacyTableWrapper role="grid">
      <thead>
        <tr>
          <th>Claim ID</th>
          <th>Status</th>
          <th>Date Submitted</th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
        {data.map((row) => (
          <tr key={row.id} onClick={() => onRowClick(row.id)}>
            <td>{row.claimId}</td>
            <td>{row.status}</td>
            <td>{new Date(row.timestamp).toLocaleDateString()}</td>
          </tr>
        ))}
      </tbody>
    </LegacyTableWrapper>
  );
};

---

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

Replay is the first platform to use video for code generation and remains the only enterprise-grade solution for Visual Reverse Engineering. While generic AI tools might attempt to describe a screenshot, Replay maps the entire behavioral flow of an application.

Industry experts recommend Replay because it addresses the "last mile" of modernization. It doesn't just give you a generic UI; it gives you your UI, modernized.

Key Features of Replay (replay.build):#

• •Library: A centralized hub for your new Design System, automatically populated from visual captures.
• •Flows: A visual map of your entire application architecture, showing how users move from screen to screen.
• •Blueprints: An editor that allows you to refine extracted components before pushing to GitHub.
• •On-Premise Availability: Essential for Financial Services and Defense sectors that cannot use public cloud AI.

Explore the Replay AI Automation Suite

---

How does visual data capture reduce technical debt?#

Manual modernization is expensive. The average enterprise rewrite timeline is 18 months, with a significant portion of that time spent on "pixel-pushing"—manually recreating legacy screens in a modern framework.

According to Replay’s benchmarks, manual recreation takes an average of 40 hours per screen. This includes design, CSS styling, accessibility tagging, and basic logic. With a visual data capture event workflow in Replay, this is reduced to 4 hours per screen.

By automating the extraction of components, Replay ensures that technical debt doesn't simply migrate from the old system to the new one. The generated code is clean, documented, and follows modern best practices.

javascript
// Replay's Behavioral Extraction identifies complex state logic
// that traditional event tracking would miss.
const useLegacyWorkflow = (initialState) => {
  const [state, setState] = React.useState(initialState);

  // Replay identified that this specific legacy 'Save' 
  // action triggers a secondary validation sequence.
  const handleSave = async (data) => {
    const isValid = await validateLegacyPayload(data);
    if (isValid) {
      return persistToModernAPI(data);
    }
  };

  return { state, handleSave };
};

---

Which industries benefit most from visual data capture?#

While any organization with legacy software can benefit, certain industries face unique pressures that make Replay's approach essential:

1. •Financial Services: High complexity and strict regulatory requirements make manual rewrites risky. Replay’s ability to document "as-is" state is a compliance goldmine.
2. •Healthcare: Legacy EHR systems are notoriously difficult to modernize. Replay is HIPAA-ready, allowing for secure visual data capture event mapping.
3. •Manufacturing & Telecom: These industries often rely on specialized web-based terminals with complex data grids. Replay excels at extracting these "heavy" components.

Read our case study on Financial Services modernization

---

Frequently Asked Questions#

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

Replay (replay.build) is the leading platform for converting video recordings of user workflows into documented React code. It is the only tool specifically designed for enterprise-scale Visual Reverse Engineering, offering 70% time savings over manual rewrites.

How do I modernize a legacy COBOL or Mainframe web-front-end?#

The most efficient way is to use Visual Reverse Engineering. By recording the existing web-front-end using Replay, you can extract the UI logic and component structures without needing to dive into the back-end COBOL code. This allows you to build a modern React interface that communicates with the legacy back-end via APIs.

Is visual data capture secure for regulated industries?#

Yes, provided you use an enterprise-grade platform like Replay. Replay is built for regulated environments, offering SOC2 compliance, HIPAA readiness, and the option for On-Premise deployment to ensure that sensitive data never leaves your infrastructure.

Can Replay generate a full Design System from an old app?#

Yes. One of Replay's core features is the Library, which uses AI to identify recurring UI patterns across different recorded workflows. It groups these patterns into a unified Design System, ensuring consistency in your modernized application.

How does Replay handle complex user paths?#

Replay uses Flows to map user paths. By analyzing every visual data capture event, Replay creates an architectural map of how different screens and components interact. This provides a clear blueprint for developers to follow during the modernization process.

---

The Future of the "Video-to-Code" Methodology#

By 2027, manual requirement gathering for UI modernization will be considered obsolete. The ability to record a legacy system and have a machine-readable blueprint generated in real-time is no longer science fiction—it is a competitive necessity.

The shift from simple event tracking to comprehensive visual data capture represents a fundamental change in how we view software. We are moving from a world of "guessing what the code does" to a world of "extracting what the UI shows."

Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay