diff --git a/components/experimental/branch-switcher.jsx b/components/experimental/branch-switcher.jsx
index 02cfe7c..b7457ca 100644
--- a/components/experimental/branch-switcher.jsx
+++ b/components/experimental/branch-switcher.jsx
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ function BranchRow({ id, label, active, isNew, onClick }) {
       {/* Active indicator — ● vs ○ */}
       <span
         className={`flex-none leading-none text-base ${
-          isActive ? "text-blue-500" : "text-gray-300"
+          isActive ? "text-blue-500" : "text-gray-400"
         }`}
         aria-hidden="true"
       >
diff --git a/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx b/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx
index 18f6bac..dea5df4 100644
--- a/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx
+++ b/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx
@@ -833,7 +833,7 @@ export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
                   return (
                     <div className="space-y-4">
                       <h2 className="text-[11px] font-medium tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-300">
-                        Open questions
+                        In this branch — Open questions
                       </h2>
                       <div className="space-y-1">
                         {openNodes.map((node) => {
@@ -1118,7 +1118,7 @@ export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
                             }}
                             className={`text-xs transition ${panelVariant === "a" ? "font-medium text-gray-700 underline" : "text-gray-400 hover:text-gray-500"}`}
                           >
-                            Panel A
+                            A
                           </button>
                           <span className="text-gray-300">/</span>
                           <button
@@ -1131,7 +1131,7 @@ export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
                             }}
                             className={`text-xs transition ${panelVariant === "b" ? "font-medium text-gray-700 underline" : "text-gray-400 hover:text-gray-500"}`}
                           >
-                            Panel B
+                            B
                           </button>
                           <span className="text-gray-300">/</span>
                           <button
@@ -1144,7 +1144,7 @@ export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
                             }}
                             className={`text-xs transition ${panelVariant === "c" ? "font-medium text-gray-700 underline" : "text-gray-400 hover:text-gray-500"}`}
                           >
-                            Panel C
+                            C (exp)
                           </button>
                         </div>
                         <div className="opacity-75">
@@ -1165,7 +1165,10 @@ export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
               {hasCurrentSummaryCondition && (
                 <div className="space-y-6 lg:col-span-1">
                   <OriginalSituation scenario={scenario} centralStatement={graph?.centralStatement} />
-                  <InvestigationMap turnCount={investigationHistory.length} />
+                  {/* RTO.25B — temporarily hidden to reduce competing navigation while branch-experiment is active */}
+                  <div className="hidden">
+                    <InvestigationMap turnCount={investigationHistory.length} />
+                  </div>
                 </div>
               )}
             </div>