I would suggest that attempting to comply with a 'feel' requirement by moving a powerful control surface is bad engineering from the start.
Agreed. Terrible engineering, and Boeing would have known that. The Boeing engineers would be the first to admit that.
But, there was no other way open to them for creating a pitch-down moment, without major airframe modifications. It must have been a miserable time at Boeing when, after realising the MAX needed pitch-down moment(s) at high alpha, it was decreed that they would
have to come from the stabiliser. The investigations into certification will surely reveal the opposition within Boeing to taking this route. Will be interesting!