This paper describes the preliminary stages in physics problem-solving related to the use of external representation. This empirical study was carried out using a phenomenographic approach to analyze data from individual thinking-aloud and interviews with 8 senior high school students and 7 physics teachers. The result of this study is a set of outcome space that describes the teachers' and students' preliminary stages in solving a physics problem. The outcome space includes three categories, i.e: the Constructing Diagram: Lead to Successful Solution; Constructing Diagram: Lead to Unsuccessful Solution: and No Diagram: Lead to Unsuccessful Solution. Linkage of student-teacher pairs in the same school is found on the pattern of the preliminary stages of their problem solving.