Cignpost engaged Absurd to design, build, and scale the digital products and services behind ExpressTest at a moment when speed, compliance, and reliability all mattered at once.
This was not a normal delivery environment. The service had to operate in an emerging market, under changing government guidance, around a distressed purchase that customers did not want to make in the first place.
Project overview
Absurd assembled a multidisciplinary team spanning research, design, and engineering to create a service that could be validated, launched, and continuously improved under pressure.
The platform needed to:
- support end-to-end Covid-19 testing services
- scale across new regional and international markets
- remain compliant with strict SLA and legislative requirements
- deliver rapid change without undermining platform stability
Delivery at pace
Absurd used Umbraco 9 as the CMS foundation and paired it with Microsoft Azure cloud hosting, an agile operating model, and a continuous integration and deployment pipeline. That combination made it possible to release quickly while keeping the service dependable.
The delivery model mattered as much as the technology. Continual discovery helped the team keep adapting the proposition, while a multidisciplinary setup kept research, design, and engineering tightly connected.
Outcome
The result was a resilient platform that played a major role in the UK’s pandemic response and continued to support essential testing services beyond the initial peak of demand.
ExpressTest went on to become the UK’s largest Covid-19 testing provider, secured major site contracts including Heathrow and Gatwick, achieved a 4.8 Trustpilot rating, and earned continued government endorsement.
This project is a good example of what matters in high-pressure delivery: clear operating structure, pragmatic engineering, and product decisions that can survive real-world volume.