To be sure, part of the challenge for me on that one is to ask it while not being a jerk. Yes, it’s a negotiation. Maybe you and I work in different circles,

To be sure, part of the challenge for me on that one is to ask it while not being a jerk. Yes, it’s a negotiation. Maybe you and I work in different circles, but in my experience people ask for features they don’t need all the time. They have a business problem, ask for what they think is the technical solution, but may not know the technical options available to solve the business problem. They may ask for a 500 page report so they can find a customer that meets x criteria, but really, better search would help them more. I had a customer sink hundred thousands into cryptographic digital signatures. I suggested the “business analyst” and upper management discuss with legal, and indeed in this case a checkbox sufficed instead. As a dev I like to say my job is to translate English into nerd. Non- or semi- technical people should communicate the business problem and then together we’ll work towards the best solution. Sometimes the solution is code.