Earlier quoted context omitted.
This seems like a weirdly wishy-washy reason to go with, when we could pick out a more tangible one instead: For some types of software, being a bit painful to use is (counter-intuitively) the more profitable route. These user-hostile patterns are copied by other teams and apps because they are seen as “what’s professional” or “modern.” And then those get copied by others, so on and so forth… until you get the modern…
Would you call someone who just copies witthhout putting own thinking and hard work a professional?
"Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" is a very old saying. The sentiment is similar to how many companies have blindly adopted FAANG-style Leetcode interviews even when their work is completely different from what the FAANGs do, as well as the adoption of other fads such as stack ranking. It's easier to imitate the market leaders than it is to innovate or invent, and innovation/invention requires taking risks.