Random Gift Suggestion

What this tool does

Someone's birthday is coming, or an occasion you cannot turn up to empty-handed, and the moment you try to think of a gift your mind goes completely blank. This tool gets the ideas flowing. It throws out a gift idea at random, so you have something concrete to react to rather than a blank and a deadline.

Press the button for an idea. Press it again for another. Ask for a few at once to build a short list to pick from. Take it as a brainstorm rather than a final answer, since the best gift depends on the person you are buying for, and the sections below help you go from a generic idea to something that actually suits them.

How to use it

1. Number / Quantity. How many ideas to pull at once, from 1 to 100.
2. Generate. Pulls a fresh idea, or a fresh set if you asked for several.
3. Starts with, Contains, Ends with. Optional filters that narrow the list before it picks. Leave them blank to draw from everything.
4. Copy. Copies the current ideas to the clipboard as plain text for your notes.

An idea is on screen as soon as the page opens, so there is always something to spark from.

How it works

The list is a fixed set of gift ideas, and each press draws one at random, with no repeats inside a single set when you ask for several.

The filters let you aim. Contains keeps any idea with your text in it, so typing kit brings up the DIY kits, from craft to candle making, while a word that suits the person narrows it the same way. Starts with goes by the first letter and ends with by the last.

What is on the list

It is a list of around a hundred and fifty gift ideas spanning every style of present. There are physical gifts like jewellery, headphones, a cosy blanket, and a fitness tracker, experiences such as an adventure day or a class pass, personalised options like a photo album, an engraved watch, or a caricature, and hands-on DIY kits for the crafty.

Because it ranges so widely, a pull might be something to buy, something to do, or something to make, which is exactly what you want when you have no idea where to start. Use the Contains box when you already know roughly what kind of gift suits them.

Why your mind goes blank

Gift-giving stalls us because the options are effectively limitless, and limitless choice tends to freeze the mind rather than free it. Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper showed it in a 2000 study where a tasting table of two dozen jams drew a crowd but sold to far fewer of them than a table of six. Too many possibilities, and we draw a blank.

Barry Schwartz called the broader effect the paradox of choice, where abundance leaves us anxious and slow to decide. A random idea breaks the freeze by giving you one real thing to consider. Even when a pick is not quite right, it gets your mind moving in a direction, which is far more useful than staring at the infinite field of everything you could possibly buy.

Turning an idea into the right gift

An idea becomes a good gift when you filter it through the person. Start with what they are actually into, their hobbies and tastes, since a gift that shows you were paying attention lands far better than a generic one. Factor in your relationship and the occasion, because what suits a close friend differs from a colleague or a parent, and set a budget you are comfortable with. Here is the part worth holding onto: thoughtfulness beats price almost every time, and an inexpensive gift that fits someone perfectly will mean more than an expensive one that does not. Personalised gifts and experiences are often the ones people remember. So take a pick as a prompt, picture the person, and adapt it until it feels like them.

Questions people ask

Is it free, and does it save anything?

It is free with no sign-up, and nothing is stored. The picks run in your browser, so use Copy to keep a list of ideas.

Can I get a few ideas at once?

Yes. Set the quantity to the number you want, up to 100, and press Generate for that many different ideas in one pull.

Will it know what to get a specific person?

No, it does not know who you are buying for. It sparks general ideas, and the personalising is yours to do, which the section above walks through.

Can I steer it toward a type of gift?

Type a word into the Contains box, like kit or book, and the list trims to matching ideas, which helps when you have a rough direction in mind.

References

1. Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper, "When Choice Is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000, the study behind choice overload. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11138768/
2. Barry Schwartz, "The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less", his talk on how more options can lower satisfaction. https://www.ted.com/talks/barry_schwartz_the_paradox_of_choice