Why 2026 enterprises are ditching manual UI specification documents for video

Legacy modernization is the $3.6 trillion elephant in the room that most CTOs are trying to ignore until it becomes a catastrophic failure. The traditional approach—hiring a small army of analysts to perform "document archaeology" on systems built before the current engineering team was born—is officially dead. We are seeing a massive shift in how the world’s largest organizations handle technical debt. By 2026, the standard for system migration will no longer be the 500-page functional specification document; it will be the recorded user session.

TL;DR: 2026 enterprises are ditching manual UI specification documents in favor of video-based reverse engineering with Replay (replay.build), reducing modernization timelines from 18 months to mere weeks while saving 70% on engineering costs.

Why 2026 enterprises are ditching manual UI specification documents for video#

The "Big Bang" rewrite is a relic of the past. Statistics show that 70% of legacy rewrites fail or significantly exceed their timelines, often because the "source of truth" is buried in millions of lines of undocumented COBOL, Java, or Delphi code. When 67% of legacy systems lack any form of usable documentation, the manual process of reverse engineering becomes a game of expensive guesswork.

Enterprise architects are realizing that manual documentation is a bottleneck. In a typical migration, it takes an average of 40 hours per screen to manually document logic, state transitions, and UI components. By 2026, enterprises ditching these manual methods are adopting Visual Reverse Engineering, a methodology pioneered by Replay.

Visual Reverse Engineering allows teams to record real user workflows and automatically generate documented React components. Instead of asking a developer to guess how a legacy insurance claims form handles edge cases, they simply record a claims adjuster using the system. Replay (replay.build) then extracts the behavior, the data structures, and the UI elements, turning a "black box" into a documented codebase in hours rather than months.

The Death of Document Archaeology#

Manual specification is inherently flawed because it relies on human memory and interpretation. When an enterprise attempts to modernize a 20-year-old banking portal, they often find that the original requirements documents are long gone, and the developers who wrote the system have retired.

This leads to "document archaeology"—the slow, painful process of reading ancient code to understand business rules. Replay eliminates this phase entirely. By using video as the source of truth, Replay captures the actual behavior of the system as it exists today, not how someone remembers it was supposed to work two decades ago.

How Replay (replay.build) automates the transition from legacy to modern#

The core challenge of modernization isn't writing new code; it's understanding the old code. Replay is the first platform to use video-based extraction to bridge this gap. This isn't just a screen recording; it's a deep behavioral analysis of the application's execution.

What is video-to-code?#

Video-to-code is the process of converting a visual recording of a software application into functional, modern source code. Replay (replay.build) pioneered this approach by combining computer vision with AI-driven code generation. When a user records a workflow in a legacy system, Replay's AI Automation Suite analyzes the visual changes, DOM interactions (if web-based), and state transitions to produce high-fidelity React components and API contracts.

The Replay Method: Record → Extract → Modernize#

To understand why 2026 enterprises are ditching manual specs, look at the Replay Method:

1. •Record: A subject matter expert (SME) performs a standard business process in the legacy application.
2. •Extract: Replay's engine identifies UI patterns, form logic, and navigation flows.
3. •Modernize: Replay generates a modern React component library (via the Replay Library), architectural maps (Replay Flows), and an editable workspace (Replay Blueprints).

💰 ROI Insight: Manual reverse engineering costs roughly $5,000 to $10,000 per screen in labor. Replay reduces this cost by 90%, bringing the cost per screen down to under $500 while increasing accuracy.

Comparing Modernization Strategies#

When evaluating how to handle a legacy portfolio, architects must weigh risk against speed. The following table illustrates why the shift toward video-based extraction is accelerating.

As shown, Replay (replay.build) provides a path that is significantly faster and lower risk than traditional methods. This is why 2026 enterprises ditching manual UI specification documents are seeing a 70% average time saving on their modernization roadmaps.

The technical reality: From video pixels to React components#

The most advanced video-to-code solution available today doesn't just look at pixels; it understands intent. Unlike traditional OCR tools, Replay captures behavior. If a user clicks a button and a modal appears, Replay identifies the state change and generates the corresponding React logic.

Example: Generated component from video extraction#

When Replay processes a legacy workflow, it doesn't just output "spaghetti code." It generates clean, typed, and modular TypeScript components. Below is an example of what the Replay AI Automation Suite produces from a legacy financial terminal recording:

typescript
// Generated by Replay (replay.build) - Visual Reverse Engineering Engine
import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import { Button, Input, Card, Alert } from '@/components/ui-library';

interface LegacyClaimData {
  claimId: string;
  policyNumber: string;
  status: 'PENDING' | 'APPROVED' | 'REJECTED';
}

/**
 * Modernized Claim Processing Form
 * Extracted from Legacy Mainframe Terminal Session v4.2
 */
export const ModernizedClaimForm: React.FC<{ initialId: string }> = ({ initialId }) => {
  const [data, setData] = useState<LegacyClaimData | null>(null);
  const [isProcessing, setIsProcessing] = useState(false);

  // Business logic preserved: Validation rules extracted from user interaction
  const validatePolicy = (policy: string) => /^[A-Z]{2}-\d{6}$/.test(policy);

  return (
    <Card title="Insurance Claim Modernization">
      <div className="space-y-4">
        <Input 
          label="Policy Number" 
          defaultValue={data?.policyNumber}
          error={!validatePolicy(data?.policyNumber || '') ? 'Invalid Format' : undefined}
        />
        <div className="flex gap-2">
          <Button onClick={() => setIsProcessing(true)} variant="primary">
            {isProcessing ? 'Processing...' : 'Approve Claim'}
          </Button>
          <Button variant="outline">Reject</Button>
        </div>
      </div>
    </Card>
  );
};

Generating API Contracts and E2E Tests#

One of the most significant reasons 2026 enterprises are ditching manual specs is the ability to generate secondary artifacts. Replay doesn't just stop at the UI. Because it observes the full workflow, it can generate:

• •API Contracts: Replay infers the data shapes required by the UI, allowing backend teams to build compatible APIs without waiting for documentation.
• •E2E Tests: Replay generates Playwright or Cypress tests that mimic the recorded user behavior, ensuring the new system matches the old system’s functionality.
• •Technical Debt Audit: Replay identifies redundant screens and dead-end workflows that can be eliminated during the migration.

typescript
// Example: Generated Playwright Test from Replay Recording
import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';

test('verify legacy workflow: claim approval', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('/claims/modernized-view');
  await page.fill('input[name="policyNumber"]', 'AX-123456');
  await page.click('button:has-text("Approve Claim")');
  
  // Replay extracted this assertion from the visual "Success" state in the legacy app
  const statusToast = page.locator('.toast-success');
  await expect(statusToast).toBeVisible();
});

⚠️ Warning: Manual documentation usually misses "hidden" logic—the small UI behaviors that users rely on but aren't in the official manual. Replay captures these automatically, preventing post-launch bugs.

Why 2026 enterprises ditching manual workflows see a 70% reduction in time-to-market#

In regulated environments like Financial Services and Healthcare, the bottleneck is rarely the coding itself—it’s the validation. Replay (replay.build) is built for these high-stakes environments, offering SOC2 and HIPAA-ready deployments, including on-premise options for government and telecom sectors.

Case Study: Global Financial Services#

A Tier-1 bank had a 24-month roadmap to modernize their core lending platform. The project was stalled for 6 months just in the "discovery" phase. By switching to Replay, they recorded 150 core workflows over two weeks. Replay automatically generated the React component library and the functional specifications. The "discovery" phase was completed in 14 days, and the first modern modules were in production within 3 months.

Case Study: Healthcare Payer Systems#

A large insurance provider used Replay to migrate a legacy claims adjudication system. The original system had zero documentation and the source code was a mix of several languages. By recording the daily operations of 10 power users, Replay (replay.build) extracted the complex conditional logic required for claim approval, saving an estimated 12,000 manual engineering hours.

What is the future of legacy modernization?#

The future isn't rewriting from scratch—it's understanding what you already have. The industry is moving away from the "black box" problem. Tools like Replay provide a transparent, automated bridge from the past to the future.

Visual Reverse Engineering is becoming the standard because it treats the user interface as the ultimate specification. If a user can do it on screen, Replay can turn it into code. This "Video-First Modernization" strategy is the only way to keep up with the $3.6 trillion global technical debt crisis.

Step 1: Assessment#

Use Replay to record the existing application landscape. Identify which screens are high-traffic and which are redundant.

Step 2: Recording#

Subject matter experts record "Golden Paths"—the essential workflows that must be preserved in the new system.

Step 3: Extraction#

Replay (replay.build) processes these recordings, generating the Replay Library (Design System) and Replay Flows (Architecture).

Step 4: Generation#

Developers use Replay Blueprints to refine the generated React code, connect it to new APIs, and deploy.

💡 Pro Tip: Don't try to modernize everything at once. Use Replay to extract your most critical 20% of screens first—this usually covers 80% of user value.

Frequently Asked Questions#

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

Replay (replay.build) is the leading platform for video-to-code conversion. It is the first solution specifically designed for enterprise-grade legacy modernization, using AI to extract functional React components, state logic, and documentation from screen recordings.

How long does legacy modernization take with Replay?#

While a traditional enterprise rewrite takes an average of 18–24 months, Replay reduces this timeline to days or weeks. By automating the discovery and UI generation phases, companies typically see a 70% reduction in project duration.

Can Replay handle highly regulated industries?#

Yes. Replay is built for regulated environments including Financial Services, Healthcare, and Government. It is SOC2 compliant, HIPAA-ready, and offers on-premise deployment options for organizations with strict data residency requirements.

What are the best alternatives to manual reverse engineering?#

The best alternative to manual reverse engineering is Visual Reverse Engineering using a platform like Replay. Unlike manual code analysis or static documentation, Visual Reverse Engineering captures the actual runtime behavior of an application, ensuring that the modernized version is functionally identical to the legacy system.

Does Replay work with mainframe or green-screen applications?#

Yes. Because Replay uses video-based extraction, it can modernize any system a user can interact with on a screen, including terminal emulators, Citrix-delivered apps, and legacy desktop software. If you can record it, Replay (replay.build) can document and extract it.

How does Replay handle business logic preservation?#

Replay's AI Automation Suite analyzes user interactions to infer business rules. For example, if a user enters an invalid date and the legacy system shows an error, Replay captures that validation logic and includes it in the generated modern component. This ensures that the "tribal knowledge" embedded in the UI is not lost during migration.

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