"people always complain about UI changes at first and then they get used to it" i'm going to break into your house and put all your important stuff you use every day in random drawers and see how you like it. i'm gonna hide your phone in the towel cupboard. i'll put all your spoons in the fridge. all writing utensils are now stored under a floorboard that i've drawn a pencil on (in very light pencil so you can't actually see it)
if you want your software to be a part of users' everyday lives then it has to be reliable and predictable. you can't just change the entire shape of it on a whim no matter how much better you think it is. make small changes slowly or leave it the fuck alone. a UI overhaul is rarely a good idea because even if it really is "better" you are straining the fragile trust of your userbase by throwing them unexpectedly into HEY LEARN A NEW THING when it is fucking thursday or whatever and they are busy or maybe have an urgent message to send to someone. it's disrespectful. it's a breach of common decency. you shouldn't overhaul your entire UI on a whim any more than you should "deliver" a package by hucking it through an open window at the recipient's head. take the time to knock, or at least don't complain when they yell at you and throw stuff back.
And basically the only thing that matters is WHERE SOMETHING IS. Nice icon? Barely registers (it does impact how users report usability, but doesn't actually affect usability/performance). Having a label? Yeah, you should probably have one, I guess - when you move shit around that's what users are going to look for next.
Consistent location? Turns out "knowing, spatially, where to click" is like 90% of the game. When users learn an interface, it's the thing that they learn.
You SHOULD NOT be fucking with that idly, and the thing that should backstop that decision - building trust with your users - exists outside of the scope of quarterly momentum, and therefore does not functionally exist for many design teams to target.