HPOne Harnesses Low-Code API Testing to Support High-Volume Seasons

HPOne, also known as Health Plan One, optimizes the health insurance consumer experience as one of the highest performing marketing, member acquisition and retention companies in the industry. Their expansive services include creating custom sales, marketing, and contact center solutions exclusively for the health and Medicare insurance products.

The HPOne quality team is led by Software Quality Assurance Manager Braulio Otiniano, who oversees the QA Team. Braulio and the majority of the HPOne QA team have extensive experience in software testing and test automation, including Selenium, JavaScript, SQL, and specialized performance testing tools like JMeter. But even their seasoned team of test automation experts struggled to scale testing during their peak season, when major insurance carriers open enrollment for Medicare Advantage plans. The seasonality of insurance means that HPOne’s customers experience high demand for several months every year. Braulio’s team is responsible for testing thousands of plans in just a few months, a challenge that stretched their resources and limited their ability to expand testing.

Low-Code Test Automation Simplifies Test Creation and Maintenance

HPOne had been using mabl for approximately six months when Braulio joined the team. Admittedly, he was skeptical of a low-code test automation platform at first, but he soon realized that mabl’s faster test creation and reduced maintenance offered a number of benefits to HPOne QA. Test creation was roughly twice as fast in mabl compared to Selenium, and autohealing reduced the amount of work hours needed to maintain those tests.

Mabl also made it easier for the HPOne QA team to run a comprehensive software testing strategy on a schedule with minimal effort. Though the HPOne QA organization has decades of combined experience in test automation and coding, mabl has enabled them to streamline their testing and begin integrating automated testing into their development pipelines. Whereas Selenium would require another third-party tool to schedule a test run, mabl enables QA to unify UI, API, and non-functional testing and schedule test runs from a single platform. The increased efficiency has enabled HPOne to execute 15,000 test cases in just three months. But low-code hasn’t limited the QA team’s control as they create complex tests. Braulio explained how his views on low-code test automation evolved as he explored mabl’s capabilities:

“I’m used to automating tests the hard way with Python or JavaScript. But with mabl, it’s pretty much point and click. If we need to inject a more robust level of complexity, we just need to introduce JavaScript snippets. I’m really happy with the productivity side of things, we can create and maintain tests so much faster.” Braulio Otiniano, Software Quality Assurance Manager, HPOne

Braulio and the rest of the HPOne QA organization are using the increased efficiency to improve their overall testing strategy. As a company serving Medicare plan sellers, their users have to manage highly seasonal cycles that are determined by insurance providers and enrollment periods. HPOne’s quality strategy must be agile in order to serve their customers during these critical times.

Data-Driven Testing Improves Test Coverage and QA Efficiency

Braulio is a certified Scrum Master, and the HPOne team works in an agile scrum environment. Releases happen every two weeks, with regression testing taking place at the same cadence. When major insurance carriers update their Medicare plans for the next enrollment period, HPOne must validate the new data via API. Prior to mabl, this time and labor intensive process was managed in massive Excel spreadsheets that detailed each individual plan. Considering that plans could easily reach 15,000-20,000 variations, it was nearly impossible for Braulio’s team of seven to test every plan within the limited time between when new plan information was released and enrollment began. Their team primarily relied on ad-hoc testing to manage quality in those short, critical weeks leading up to their customers’ busy period.

With mabl, the HPOne quality team has scaled testing to such an extent that every plan is being tested before enrollment begins. HPOne has significantly improved test coverage with data-driven API testing, improving confidence and ensuring that fewer unexpected issues appear during enrollment season. Braulio’s seasoned team of test automation experts appreciate that mabl enables them to quickly create straightforward tests with a low-code UI, or add the necessary level of complexity with JavaScript. Quality can move at an agile pace and adapt to the surge in activity. He shared how his team has embraced low-code, data-driven testing to navigate the critical time preparing for enrollment:

“The team is seeing the value of speed, and how they can be very technical with JavaScript snippets or simply create lightweight tests when needed. They realize that they're not losing the technical value. Mabl is helping us change directions, and they now feel that they're learning something new.” Braulio Otiniano, Software Quality Assurance Manager, HPOne

Investing More Time in QA Training and Aligning With Business Goals

Outside their busy period, mabl is enabling Braulio and the rest of the HPOne QA team to spend more time expanding their software testing strategy and aligning quality with overall business goals. Since they no longer need to worry about managing testing infrastructure with mabl, QA is able to dedicate more time exploring the business and identifying new ways to develop new professional skills. Braulio shared how his team is taking advantage of this newfound time:

“We're becoming more proficient, business-wise, and thinking more like our users. We have the time and focus to think in the macro, rather than always zeroing in on our technology stack. Without mabl, we’d have to spend a lot more time thinking about how to manage the technology, rather than the business.” Braulio Otiniano, Software Quality Assurance Manager, HPOne

Even with more time and effort dedicated to learning about their industry, mabl has enabled the HPOne QA team to integrate automated testing into their CI/CD pipelines for even more efficient and more effective software testing.