For other people

The gift nobody asks for and everybody uses.

Something they'll actually use beats something they'll put in a drawer. That's the whole pitch.

The drawer test.

Every gift ends up in one of two places. On the desk, in the glove box, next to the kettle — somewhere it gets picked up without thinking. Or in the drawer with the novelty bottle opener and the branded power bank.

What decides it isn't price and it isn't taste. It's whether the thing has a job that comes up often enough to be remembered, and whether it's small enough to live where that job happens.

A gift that solves something small and frequent beats one that solves something large and hypothetical.

Does it have a job?: Yes.Keyboards, car vents, camera gear, the gap beside the seat. Small jobs, but weekly ones.
Is it small enough to keep out?: Yes.It fits a jeans pocket, which is the whole reason it gets carried to the car instead of stayed away from.
Do they already own one?: Almost certainly not.Most people have never bought an air duster. That's the rare position — useful, and not already in the house.
Does it need explaining?: No.Two ends, one dial. Nobody has to read anything in front of everyone.
What if it breaks on them?: We replace it.Two years, motor, battery and electronics. A gift that fails is worse than no gift, and it's your name on it, not ours.