How to validate feature requests using member intent instead of raw upvotes

We built our product roadmap based entirely on the features with the highest upvotes on our public feedback board. We ended up building things nobody actually used long-term.

We shifted from tracking raw upvote counts to analyzing who was asking and whether they had actively tried workaround solutions before requesting a new feature.

Filtering requests by user behavior and intent saved us from chasing loud anomalies.

How do you separate loud feature requests from actual core user needs?