Since the technology of educational data mining and the area of learning analytics have advanced, visual dashboard applications as well as the related research figuring out the usefulness and effectiveness of them have been widely anticipated. The background of this study is to design and develop such a dashboard application based on learning analytics approach in Moodle Learning Management System (LMS). However, before designing the information that will be deployed in the visual dashboard, we attempted to explore how students perceive the needs in regard to Learning Analytics Dashboard(LAD) and what should be considered in implementing the treatment throughout the dashboard to them. Previous dashboards graphically presenting diverse tracking data are utilized for students to recognize their online learning pattern and for teachers to find out at-risk students and, ultimately help students? academic success. In spite of such innovative applications and approaches, little development cases have been based on the strong theoretical background and no research was conducted to investigate students? perceptions and needs before the dashboard development is completed and opened to users. The purpose of this study, as a preliminary research, is to find out the major design considerations prior to the actual design and development stage. Above all, in conducting this study, we reviewed the students? perception and needs in the lens of activity theory because this theory has been recognized as a powerful framework to design an interactive system in the area of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). This study finally discussed how activity theory contributes to understand the activity system where students (subject) in a large university (community) interact with the courses (objects) through the visual dashboard in LMS (tool) in order for the academic achievement (outcome). Also, what kind of rules and division of labors (or roles) are related to this activity system was considered. Ultimately, the result of analysis using the framework of activity theory suggests several design implications for the development of LAD.