What the patient sees
Triage score

Nobody wants to sit in an emergency room feeling sick, worried, and unsure of what happens next. That experience can be even harder when you struggle to explain your symptoms in English. We wanted to make that first step easier for both patients seeking help and nurses trying to understand their needs. This project also has a personal connection: I have many friends in the nursing field. Their work inspired us to think about both sides of the intake process. Supporting patients also means giving nurses information that is clear and easy to review.

we made a bilingual emergency triage intake prototype that connects a patient facing form with a nurse dashboard. Patients can describe their concerns in Spanish or English, while nurses have an organized place to review submissions. We chose a WhatsApp style interface because it feels familiar to many people in our Hispanic communities. We wanted the experience to feel like a conversation, making it more approachable during an already stressful moment.

We used Base44 to build and refine the interface, and Cursor to work on the code, and GitHub to manage and connect our development work. We focused on two main experiences: a simple conversational intake flow for patients and a clear dashboard for nurses. Throughout development, we worked on bilingual navigation and the flow of information from a patient’s submission to the nurse’s view.

One of our biggest challenges was connecting the patient and nurse experiences so that new submissions would appear consistently in the dashboard. We also worked through connecting our development tools and understanding the publishing process. Another challenge was balancing simplicity with useful information. We wanted patients to feel comfortable completing the form while giving nurses enough context to begin reviewing their concerns.

We learned that accessibility involves more than translating words. Familiar design, clear questions, and easy navigation all matter especially when someone is stressed or uncomfortable. We also learned how important it is to build around both patients and nurses. A helpful intake experience needs to make communication easier for the person sharing information and the person receiving it.

We want to testwith Spanish speaking users and nurses, improve synchronization between the form and dashboard, and refine the questions based on their feedback. Our goal is to support the intake process and clinical review, helping patients feel heard from the moment they arrive.