I don't know if my experience is normal or not, but I've pretty much only ever been asked to add beneficial functionality. I also don't work in general web consumption so when I'm asked to do something it seems like it's for better function rather than consumer utilization.
A question like this reminds me of back when I was regularly using deadspin and other gawker media when it was bankrupted, sold, and reworked to be an ad and data collection farm. I'd probably have done, what it at least appeared most devs did, and left.