The average WordPerfect user wasn't a layperson, really. WordPerfect proficiency was listed on resumes, and looked for, as a serious differentiator (unlike today, where "Word proficiency" is a meaningless non-differentiator on resumes.) People took courses in WordPerfect to get that proficiency in order to get hired into secretarial roles. There were training courses given to employees who were users of previous technologies, to bring them up to date, rather than assuming they would just catch on. It was a whole "thing." (Even moreso for its companion Lotus 1-2-3: accountants did not just suddenly understand how to use an electronic spreadsheet.)

Just because it was a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf software package with a home-user license that any individual could buy, doesn't really mean that they were targeting the "layperson" market in the way that e.g. Windows Home Editions ever were. They were targeting professionals who had home computers, who had already learned the software due to previous corporate-sponsored training. Big difference.

The equivalent today would be the sort of software used by Hollywood screenwriters to format their scripts. Even if you buy a single-seat license of it, that's not because you're a layperson/hobbyist; that's because you're a freelance professional who works from your home-office.