Universal Studios Backlot Club
Getting people to do anything new is hard. At this point, folks are constantly inundated with apps they need to download and accounts they need to create. Forward Studio was asked to dream up a platform that connected all Universal touchpoints from amusement parks to Peacock. The question behind the Backlot Club was why would anyone actually care. The answer, for me, was personal. When I visit Universal, I go straight to the Wizarding World. I want to prove I know every spell, find every detail, collect everything Harry Potter. That feeling of wanting to go deeper into a world you already love is what the whole system was designed around.
Client
Forward Studio
Service
Experience Design
Year
2025
The clear starting place for Backlot Club was at the parks, where fans are able to inhabit worlds they've grown up with from the Simpsons to Jurassic Park. The challenge was building a digital layer that honored that investment. We were determined to create something more meaningful than a check-in app or loyalty card. We wanted fans to feel like their knowledge, their time, and their devotion actually meant something. The harder problem was the second sign-in. How do you motivate someone who isn't already a regular park attendee to engage with something new on top of an already overwhelming day? Our answer was urgency. Make the experience feel like something happening right now that you didn't want to miss.
I designed the core architecture of the Backlot Club including the quest structure, location-based check-ins, trivia challenges, leaderboards, collectible sets, and the reward scheduling that tied them together. All of it lived in a detailed experience design document that structured the full platform before a single screen was built. The park-based and global leaderboards were the sharpest idea in the system. Completing quests in the park put you on a leaderboard of everyone else in the park right now. That framing created stakes to the check-ins. Fans could feel like they were part of something live and time-limited. Streaks and tiered rewards extended urgency across visits, even outside the parks. The system was designed to scale as Universal added more touchpoints into the system. So quests could include actions taken on streaming services, at movie theaters, or at the parks themselves. As players complete quests, they earn IP-themed collectible sets, which gave fans a way to express their fandom: completing the full Harry Potter medallion set, hunting down a rare Sorting Hat drop, showing off a complete Hogsmeade collection to another fan. Completing it required real engagement with the rarest items requiring sustained play over time.
The Forward Studio Team delivered the experience design document, fully fleshed wireframes, UI design, and visual art direction. Ustwo took the system forward and built the product itself. Backlot Club debuted at Halloween Horror Nights 2025, launching simultaneously at Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood. Guests collected digital medallions tied to haunted houses and scare zones, with rewards including limited-edition physical trading cards redeemable in-park. The parks are full of people who have memorized every line in the movies. They are looking for new ways in. Backlot Club was designed to meet them there and to say that their knowledge matters here, their collection is worth something, and there's always more to find.
