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This essay presents the case of designing a learning analytics system using a theory of learning. Learning analytics systems are often institutional artifacts using data collected from and to support educational practice and practitioners including learners, teachers, and administrators. There is a substantial and growing body of work under the learning analytics banner. Much of it framed technically around data harvested from digital tools and presentation mechanisms called dashboards. Using a specific case involving a collaborative game-based education research project, this paper provides a broad, sociotechnical design perspective through three frame expanding sections: the educational game’s learning theory-driven approach, the information architecture of the learning analytics system, and the activity system that the information from learning analytics information are used within. This paper illustrates a portion of the conceptual landscape that can guide the design, development, and research for these data systems that are potentially consequential for students and educators.