Visual design as decoration is probably less effective, and I think you'll get a lot of that with "Unprofessional" designers. Visual design as a way to amplify/enhance existing well-designed interactions is definitely effective (i.e. strong button affordance, good use of color to convey meaning, etc). This is the type of output you'll get with a "Professional" designer.
Philosophy aside, I think you'd probably do better with qualitative testing. Do people tend to complete tasks easier if the action being tested "looks" easier? Does the brand identity match the audience you're targeting? Are your design patterns consistent across the site? Etc, etc. It's certainly a bit more nebulous but I think with the right questions you could certainly use A/B testing to answer some of these things.