I don't really want to be chasing what the "best" design professionals do. Rather I want to replicate the experiences I see on the most common web sites, the ones that I visit. That's often deceptively difficult, especially if what users are familiar with comes from sites like Facebook (that have large teams of professionals in both design and programming), but it's at least a common thing I share with my users.
And maybe Design of everyday things as well.
Design and designers today are completely and utterly misguided, self-serving and chasing trends. Yes, its a strong statement but I have observed complete lack of understanding of how to make products and services with users in mind. From Apple to your typical SaaS startup, from Slack to Stripe.
Design is not only appearance. It is how a thing works (quoting Steve Jobs who himself didn't follow his own advice). About the only Designer I deeply admire is Dieter Rams. There is so much clarity in what he devised and designed.
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Which might actually make you worse off because you'll waste your time trying to implement some design concept without understanding whether it's really appropriate for what you're doing.