Should you include a much-requested feature that is fundamentally wrong?

Question

In our main product, we've got a feature request that's been around for a couple of years now that's been requested quite a few times. It's technically easy to implement, the problem is that it will fundamentally change the concept of what the tool does, and will likely cause more bug reports as people mis-use the new feature to match the new concept (which we won't be able to work around). We've got a separate feature that works around the issue quite well, but we still get requests to implement the new one.

Should we

• listen to our users, and implement the new feature, even though it changes the concept of what the product does and what we want it to do, and will increase support costs
• add some more support articles explaining how to use the workaround
• make the workaround more obvious in the UI so the users find it more often
• something else

Answer 1

Implement it as a plug-in.

• It will be available for users who really want it, but won't fundamentally change your product.
• Most users won't end up installing it, so your support base will be smaller.
• It won't get in the way of users who don't use it.