Learn Swedish: I stället för att minska frustrationen gjorde knappvalet mig arg. - Instead of reducing the frustration, the keypad selection made me angry.

English uses a preposition followed by an -ing verb (a gerund): "instead of reducing". Swedish doesn't use gerunds after prepositions. Instead, it uses the preposition + att + the infinitive verb. This rule applies to almost all prepositions in Swedish (e.g., trött på att vänta, "tired of waiting").

Why is the verb gjorde placed before the subject knappvalet?

This is a great example of the V2 (verb-second) rule. The entire introductory phrase I stället för att minska frustrationen counts as the first block of information. Therefore, the main verb gjorde must take the second slot, forcing the subject knappvalet to come immediately after it.

Why do we use gjorde to mean "made" here instead of fick?

You use göra (here in the past tense, gjorde) because it is followed by an adjective (arg). You would use få (past tense fick) when "make" means causing someone to do an action, which requires a verb (for example, fick mig att skrika - "made me scream").

Is it okay to write i stället för with the first part as a single word (istället)?