HN seems to think PMs have a lot more power at Microsoft or large corps than they actually do. I assure you, a bunch of this stuff just comes top down because some VP's million dollar bonus rides on it.
The mandate to implement these kind of pop-ups doesn't come from above.
The mandate to identify ways to increase profit comes from above, and it is the PMs (through marketing/research/developers) that come up with ways to satisfy these requirements.
And failure to meet these requirements means a bad review and a chance of being laid off.
