Yes, you can have an ADE profile with No User Affinity and Shared iPad disabled. Those two settings aren’t mutually dependent.

In that configuration the iPad is still fully managed by Intune, but it isn’t tied to a specific user and it doesn’t use the Shared iPad multi-user experience. The device simply behaves as a managed device that anyone can pick up and use.

For what you’re describing, that may actually be the simplest option. If users don’t need their own files, settings, or Managed Apple IDs, then Shared iPad can add complexity without much benefit.

Regarding the passcode, it isn’t inherently mandatory. Whether users are prompted depends on your enrolment profile, setup assistant settings, and any passcode policies or compliance policies you’ve assigned. If you hide the passcode step and don’t have a policy requiring one, the device can operate without a user-created passcode.

Guest-only Shared iPads are another option, but if the goal is simply “pick up an iPad and use it” with no personal accounts, I’d probably trial a small group with No User Affinity and Shared iPad disabled first. It’s a much simpler model to manage and troubleshoot.

The main question I’d ask is whether users need anything to persist between sessions. If not, No User Affinity without Shared iPad sounds like a good fit for your use case.