Elijah Chia
A Chronic Misalignment
I am a designer driven by a simple, albeit slightly "cheesy" conviction: Design is the medium, but love is the outcome. As a graduate of LASALLE’s BA(Hons) Design for Social Futures with a background in Product Design, I bridge the gap between high-level speculative thinking and tangible, 3D prototyping. My practice is rooted in community co-creation and a deep-seated desire to amplify voices, solve friction, and extend grace through thoughtful intervention.
I enjoy using narrative and humour as tools for my designs. My capstone project, "A Chronic Misalignment," explored sustainability at the NUH Eye Clinic, culminating in a speculative zine that critiqued failed initiatives by highlighting overlooked nuances in human behaviour. Whether I am building logical systems or provocative, conversation-starting objects, I approach every project with resourcefulness and a bit of wit. I believe in taking the work seriously without taking myself too seriously.
A Chronic Misalignment
The project began with a simple observation: three sustainability initiatives were introduced in the department; one succeeded while three did not. The focus of the investigation was not on the failures themselves but on understanding why they failed and, more importantly, what they reveal.
Using ethnographic research methods, the project employed extended observations, semi-structured interviews with staff, and a series of live behavioural experiments to map the difference between how sustainability initiatives are designed from the top down and how they are experienced on the ground. While the findings were not surprising, they were revealing: behavioural change initiatives often underestimate the cognitive load faced by clinical staff. Nurses, doctors, and support staff are not resistant to sustainability; rather, they are navigating a complex web of protocols, time pressure, and patient responsibilities. Recycling compliance does not fail because people lack concern; it fails because the system complicates the process unnecessarily.
The most unexpected finding surfaced from what had initially been dismissed as a problem: the hack bin. Throughout the department, staff had discreetly taped plastic bags to the edges of tables, creating improvised waste receptacles that were neither designed nor approved, yet widely used. This project illuminated a staff-designed solution that outperformed the official initiative. The hack bin shifted the focus of the investigation from "how do we get staff to comply?" to "what are staff already telling us through their makeshift solutions?"
The project culminates in two interconnected outputs: a design zine that documents the department's bin archetypes, staff behaviours, and experimental findings as an editorial artefact, and a set of physical models that speculate on potential improvements for the clinic or hospital.
A Chronic Misalignment does not propose a redesigned bin or a new policy. Instead, it argues for a more challenging approach: acknowledging that the mismatch between institutional logic and clinical reality is structural. Surfacing this disparity honestly is more valuable than merely covering it up with yet another initiative. The staff already know what works; the design question is whether the institution is willing to listen.