I suspect the idea was to lower the skill ceiling to make it accessible to non-programmers or more cynically in a belief it would cut labor costs. It doesn't wo

I suspect the idea was to lower the skill ceiling to make it accessible to non-programmers or more cynically in a belief it would cut labor costs. It doesn't work out that way but overspeccing the wrong details is a persistent temptation, perhaps related to psychology of the leaders for reasons similar to micromanaging.