Curious by Design
Curious by Design is a podcast about how things get built, and why they end up the way they do.
Every product, city, system, and business is the result of a series of choices. Some intentional. Some accidental. Some brilliant. Some… less so.
Hosted by Jason Hardwick, this show explores the thinking behind the work: the history, the tradeoffs, the constraints, and the invisible decisions that shape the world around us. From design and engineering to culture, technology, and everyday systems we take for granted, each episode pulls on a single thread and follows it deeper than expected.
This isn’t a how-to podcast.
It’s a why-did-they-do-that podcast.
If you’ve ever looked at something and wondered how it came to be—or how it could’ve been designed better, you’re in the right place.
Welcome to Curious by Design.
Curious by Design
Why the QWERTY Keyboard Still Exists
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
It’s not alphabetical.
It’s not intuitive.
And it wasn’t even designed to help humans type better.
In this episode of Curious by Design, we explore the strange history of the QWERTY keyboard—a layout created in the 1870s to prevent early typewriters from breaking. What began as a mechanical workaround became a global standard, not because it was the best option, but because everything else grew around it.
From jammed metal arms to typing schools, job requirements, and modern computers, QWERTY is a case study in path dependence: how early design decisions can shape the future long after their original purpose disappears.
The next time you type a message or send an email, remember, you’re using a solution to a problem that no longer exists… carried forward by habit, familiarity, and momentum.
That’s Curious by Design.
