Example of something easier to count with $q$-analog?

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Are there any known examples of combinatorial objects that become easier to count by considering some kind of $q$-analog? It seems to me that it might be impossible for the problem of computing the $q$-analog directly to be (strictly) easier than enumerating the objects themselves, as we should be able to just replace $q$ everywhere with 1. However, I'd also be interested in any enumerative problems in which $q$-analogs give us some additional insight.