Sara Colquhoun had spent more than two decades building a reputation as one of Australia's most respected Pilates instructors, reaching a global audience through international teaching platforms. Every one of those channels, though, was owned by someone else. Her method reached only as far as another company's product, catalogue and priorities allowed, and no platform was built around her progression, her precision and her standards.
How we turned Sara Colquhoun's studio expertise into a global Pilates platform in three months
From Studio to Global Platform
PixelForce turned more than two decades of studio teaching into a subscription Pilates platform - structured Mat and Reformer programs and an on-demand class library - live across iOS, Android and web.
Concept to launch 3 months
Launched together iOS + Android
Hours of content 400+
The Problem
The Solution
PixelForce built Pilates Obsession on a proven fitness app framework: structured Mat and Reformer Programs, an on-demand class library and progress tracking, delivered across iOS, Android and web from a single Flutter codebase. The framework carried the foundations, so the build concentrated on what made the product distinctive.
The Outcome
A complete first version - Mat and Reformer programs, an on-demand library, subscriptions and analytics - designed, built and launched in three months, on budget. Pilates Obsession now carries more than 400 hours of instruction across six progressive levels, positioning Pilates as a discipline worthy of dedicated, expert instruction rather than a secondary modality.
More than two decades of expertise
Sara Colquhoun is one of Australia's most respected Pilates instructors. She began teaching at seventeen, trained under Pilates International, and owns Ki Movement Pilates on Clarendon Street in South Melbourne. Over her career she has worked with Australian Football League players from the Western Bulldogs, dancers from the Australian Ballet, VCA students and Cirque du Soleil performers, and she won the international competition to join Pilates Anytime - a teaching lineage that traces directly back to Joseph Pilates.
Her reputation had reached a global audience through international teaching platforms, but that reach was always shaped by other companies' products and priorities. The opportunity was to build a platform around Sara's own methodology - to a premium standard and live in three months - at the moment Pilates was surging worldwide.
A three-month window
One quarter to design, build, test and launch a full platform - comprehensive programming, professional video, reliable infrastructure and marketing readiness - with no room for scope creep or rework.
A crowded field
Peloton had begun adding Pilates content and dedicated apps were growing, but most treated Pilates as one category among many. The opening was specialist depth, not another generalist library.
Form precision is everything
Poor Pilates technique reduces results and raises injury risk. Camera angles, lighting and instructional clarity all had to be good enough for members to self-correct without a teacher in the room.
Two disciplines, one platform
Pilates spans mat work and reformer training, each with its own progression. The platform had to structure both as guided programs while keeping a single, coherent experience for members.
The build ran between PixelForce in Adelaide and Sara's team in Melbourne. Remote workshops and shared design tools kept both teams aligned on the vision, with continuous feedback driving iterative design - and the platform launched on schedule across iOS, Android and web.
Hinney Lo Founder & CEO, PixelForce
How our workshops workThe discovery workshop set the foundation for everything that followed. It brought every stakeholder into one room to agree the product vision, prioritise the features that mattered for version one, and build a roadmap that balanced ambition against a three-month timeline.
Swipe to explore
A methodology-first approach
The engagement followed the PixelForce path: a discovery workshop to lock the vision and priorities, a scoping and design phase that produced the designs and the technical blueprint, then a fixed-scope build, quality assurance and release. Scoping and design always precedes development, so the three-month build ran against an agreed plan rather than a moving target.
The foundation was a production-ready app framework, the same architecture lineage that has carried earlier PixelForce products to tens of millions of users. Authentication, subscription billing, video delivery and analytics were already proven, so the team's effort went where it mattered: the progressive Mat and Reformer programming, the video pipeline and the on-demand library that made Pilates Obsession distinctive. Knowing which parts of a build to reuse and which to design from scratch is the judgement that experience buys.
A cross-platform approach in Flutter delivered native-quality iOS and Android from one codebase, which was essential to the timeline. Video was served through a content delivery network with adaptive streaming, so classes started quickly and adjusted quality to each member's connection. Subscription billing spanned the App Store, Google Play and web, and a React admin portal gave Sara's team full control of programs and classes without a developer in the loop.
All in one place
Mat & Reformer Programs • On-Demand Library • Progress Tracking
A studio practice, rebuilt as a global platform.
Two ways to train, one app
Structured Programs guide members through progressive advancement, while an on-demand library lets them train on their own terms - Sara's teaching delivered the way each member wants to move.
- Two ways to train
- Video built for precision
- Train to your own music
- One membership, every device
- Sara's studio, run from one admin
- Analytics that guide the content
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Two ways to train
The product centres on two experiences: structured Programs for guided progression, and on-demand classes for flexible training. Each track runs across three levels - Mat Foundations, Dynamic Mat and Elevate Mat on the mat, and Fundamentals Reformer, Dynamic Reformer and Elevate Reformer on the reformer - so a member new to the method starts with the foundation levels and progresses toward the Elevate levels as their strength and control build.
02 06
Video built for precision
Pilates rewards precise form, so every class is filmed from multiple angles with considered lighting and clear cueing. Video is served through a content delivery network with adaptive streaming, so members can watch closely and correct themselves without an instructor in the room.
03 06
Train to your own music
Movement and music belong together, so the app integrates Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube - members train to the soundtrack that keeps them going, rather than a fixed in-app playlist.
04 06
One membership, every device
A single membership unlocks the full Pilates Obsession library across iOS, Android and web. Subscription billing runs through the App Store, Google Play and Stripe, so a member can start on their phone and pick up on the web without losing access.
05 06
Sara's studio, run from one admin
A React admin portal gives Sara's team full control of programs, classes, categories and release scheduling, so new Pilates content reaches members without a developer in the loop.
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Analytics that guide the content
Real-time analytics on members, engagement and the most-watched classes show Sara's team what resonates, so decisions about what to film and programme next are grounded in how members actually train.
The services behind the Pilates Obsession build
Frequently Asked Questions
A clear vision and your content. PixelForce handles the rest - strategy, UX/UI design, engineering, the video pipeline and launch - and can begin from a discovery workshop when the idea is still taking shape.
Pilates Obsession went from concept to launch in three months on a production-ready framework. Timelines vary with scope, but the framework removes months of foundational work.
It depends on scope. PixelForce scopes tightly in a paid scoping and design phase and provides a fixed, transparent quote before any development begins.
Yes. A cross-platform Flutter codebase delivers native-quality iOS and Android together, with a web experience where it adds value.
PixelForce supports and grows the product after release - monitoring, analytics-led improvements and new features through an ongoing retainer.
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