diff --git a/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx b/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx
index 9139f6b..7b09ceb 100644
--- a/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx
+++ b/components/reasoning-workspace.jsx
@@ -512,11 +512,11 @@ function CurrentUnderstandingCard({ currentSummary, plainLanguage }) {
   if (!summary) return null;
 
   return (
-    <div className="rounded-lg border border-gray-100/80 bg-transparent px-6 pt-5 pb-6">
-      <h2 className="mb-3 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
+    <div className="rounded-lg border-[2.5px] border-teal-300/60 bg-gradient-to-b from-teal-50/40 to-white px-7 pt-6 pb-7">
+      <h2 className="mb-3 text-[11px] font-bold tracking-widest uppercase text-teal-700/60">
         Understanding
       </h2>
-      <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-600">{summary}</p>
+      <p className="text-base leading-relaxed text-gray-800">{summary}</p>
     </div>
   );
 }
@@ -526,11 +526,11 @@ function PlainLanguageCard({ summary }) {
   if (!summary) return null;
 
   return (
-    <div className="rounded-lg border border-gray-100/80 bg-transparent px-6 pt-5 pb-6">
-      <h2 className="mb-3 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
+    <div className="rounded-lg border-[2.5px] border-teal-300/60 bg-gradient-to-b from-teal-50/40 to-white px-7 pt-6 pb-7">
+      <h2 className="mb-3 text-[11px] font-bold tracking-widest uppercase text-teal-700/60">
         Understanding
       </h2>
-      <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-600">{summary}</p>
+      <p className="text-base leading-relaxed text-gray-800">{summary}</p>
     </div>
   );
 }
@@ -710,6 +710,7 @@ function OpenQuestionsPanel({
   focused, formulationStep, formulateMsg, processingStep, deconstructMsg, doneForNowIds,
   startFocused, handleDeconstructSubmit, retryFormulation, setSelectedPresentationItemId,
   setFocusedPresentationItemId, setFocusedAnswer, focusedAnswer, setDoneForNowIds,
+  setFollowUpQuestion,
 }) {
   const openNodes = (graph?.nodes || []).filter(
     (n) => n.kind === "unknown" && n.status !== "resolved" && !doneForNowIds.includes(n.id),
@@ -785,11 +786,29 @@ function OpenQuestionsPanel({
 
                           {focused?.result && (
                             <>
-                              <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">What we learned</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{focused.result.observations.map((o, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{o}</li>))}</ul></div>
-                              <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Still unclear</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{focused.result.uncertainties.map((u, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{u}</li>))}</ul></div>
-                              {focused.result.assumptions?.length > 0 && <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Assumptions in this response</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{focused.result.assumptions.map((a, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{a}</li>))}</ul></div>}
-                              {focused.result.relationships?.length > 0 && <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Connections</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{focused.result.relationships.map((r, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{r.from} → {r.to} ({r.type})</li>))}</ul></div>}
-                              {focused.result.possibleFollowUpQuestions?.length > 0 && <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Questions this raises</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{focused.result.possibleFollowUpQuestions.map((q, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{q}</li>))}</ul></div>}
+                              <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">What this tells us</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{(focused.result.observations || []).map((o, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{o}</li>))}</ul></div>
+                              <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Still unclear</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{(focused.result.uncertainties || []).map((u, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{u}</li>))}</ul></div>
+                              <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Assumptions</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{(focused.result.assumptions || []).map((a, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{a}</li>))}</ul></div>
+                              <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Connections</h3><ul className="list-disc pl-5 space-y-1">{(focused.result.relationships || []).map((r, i) => (<li key={i} className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{r.from} → {r.to} ({r.type})</li>))}</ul></div>
+                              <div><h3 className="mb-1 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">Questions this raises</h3>
+                                {(focused.result.possibleFollowUpQuestions || []).length > 0 ? (
+                                  <div className="space-y-1 mt-1">
+                                    {focused.result.possibleFollowUpQuestions.map((q, i) => (
+                                      <button
+                                        key={i}
+                                        onClick={(e) => { e.stopPropagation(); setFollowUpQuestion(q); }}
+                                        style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
+                                        className="w-full text-left rounded-lg border border-blue-200/60 bg-blue-50/40 px-3 py-2.5 text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-800 hover:border-blue-300 hover:bg-blue-100/60 transition"
+                                        data-testid="follow-up-question"
+                                      >
+                                        {q} → pick this question
+                                      </button>
+                                    ))}
+                                  </div>
+                                ) : (
+                                  <p className="text-xs text-gray-400">None yet</p>
+                                )}
+                              </div>
                             </>
                           )}
 
@@ -1113,6 +1132,16 @@ export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
     doFormulate(target);
   }
 
+  function setFollowUpQuestion(followUpText) {
+    const target = focusedPresentationItemId;
+    if (!target || !followUpText?.trim()) return;
+    setFocusedInvestigations((prev) => ({
+      ...prev,
+      [target]: { ...prev[target], question: followUpText.trim(), answer: null },
+    }));
+    setFocusedAnswer("");
+  }
+
   function hasFocusedContent() {
     if (!focused) return false;
     const q = focused.question;
@@ -1201,40 +1230,79 @@ export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
           {/* ── RTO.29D — initial post-Analyse reflection ──────── */}
           {postAnalyseStatus === "success" && (
             <div className="space-y-6" data-testid="initial-reflection-surface">
-              {/* What I understood */}
-              <div className="rounded-lg border border-blue-200/60 bg-blue-50/40 px-6 pt-5 pb-6">
-                <h2 className="mb-3 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
-                  What I understood
-                </h2>
-                <p className="text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-700">{propUnderstanding}</p>
-              </div>
+              {/* Current Understanding + Situation — prominent two-column orienting surface */}
+              <div className="grid grid-cols-1 gap-6 lg:grid-cols-3">
+                <div className={`space-y-6 ${hasGraph ? 'lg:col-span-2' : 'lg:col-span-full'}`}>
+                  {/* Current Understanding — prominent orienting surface */}
+                  <div className="rounded-xl border-[2.5px] border-teal-300/70 bg-gradient-to-b from-teal-50/60 to-white px-8 pt-7 pb-8 shadow-sm">
+                    <h2 className="mb-4 text-[11px] font-bold tracking-[.18em] uppercase text-teal-700/60">
+                      Current Understanding
+                    </h2>
+                    <p className="text-lg leading-relaxed text-gray-800">{propUnderstanding}</p>
+                  </div>
 
-              {/* Initial proposed findings */}
-              <div className="space-y-3" data-testid="initial-proposed-findings">
-                <h2 className="text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
-                  Initial proposed findings
-                </h2>
+                  {/* Initial proposed findings — unknowns + plausible interpretations from reconstruction */}
+                  <div className="space-y-3" data-testid="initial-proposed-findings">
+                    <h2 className="text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
+                      Open Questions
+                    </h2>
                 {(() => {
                   const resolvedIds = new Set(graph?.resolvedNodeIds || []);
+                  // Surface only candidate items from the semantic reconstruction that are worth investigating:
+                  // — unknowns (importantUnknowns from the LLM's reconstruction)
+                  // — assumptions (plausibleInterpretations from the LLM's reconstruction)
+                  // Skips observations, states, relationships, transitions — these are already established facts/context.
+                  // Both kinds check status !== "resolved" and excluded resolvedIds to mirror OpenQuestionsPanel logic.
+                  const candidateKinds = ["unknown", "assumption"];
                   return (
-                    graph?.nodes?.map((node) =>
-                      node.kind === "unknown" && node.status !== "resolved" && !resolvedIds.has(node.id) ? (
-                        <button
-                          key={node.id}
-                          onClick={() => startFocused(node.id)}
-                          style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
-                          className="w-full text-left rounded-lg border border-gray-200 bg-white px-5 py-4 transition hover:border-gray-300 hover:bg-gray-50"
-                        >
-                          <span className="block text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-900">{node.label}</span>
-                          {node.description && node.description !== node.label && (
-                            <p className="mt-1.5 text-xs leading-snug text-gray-500">{node.description}</p>
-                          )}
-                        </button>
-                      ) : null,
-                    ) || []
+                    (graph?.nodes || [])
+                      .filter(
+                        (n) =>
+                          candidateKinds.includes(n.kind) &&
+                          n.status !== "resolved" &&
+                          !resolvedIds.has(n.id),
+                      )
+                      .map((node) => {
+                        const tag = node.kind === "assumption" ? "Plausible interpretation" : "Unclear";
+                        return (
+                          <button
+                            key={node.id}
+                            onClick={() => startFocused(node.id)}
+                            style={{ cursor: "pointer" }}
+                            className="w-full text-left rounded-lg border border-gray-200 bg-white px-5 py-4 transition hover:border-gray-300 hover:bg-gray-50"
+                          >
+                            <span className="block text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-900">{node.label}</span>
+                            {node.description && node.description !== node.label && (
+                              <p className="mt-1.5 text-xs leading-snug text-gray-500">{node.description}</p>
+                            )}
+                            <span className="mt-2 block text-[10px] uppercase tracking-wider text-gray-400">{tag}</span>
+                          </button>
+                        );
+                      })
                   );
                 })()}
               </div>
+                </div>
+
+                {/* Situation panel during initial reflection */}
+                {hasGraph && (
+                  <div className="space-y-6 lg:col-span-1">
+                    <OriginalSituation scenario={scenario} centralStatement={graph?.centralStatement} />
+                  </div>
+                )}
+                {!hasGraph && scenario && (
+                  <div className="space-y-6 lg:col-span-1">
+                    <div className="rounded-lg border border-gray-200/60 bg-gray-50/40 px-5 py-4">
+                      <h2 className="mb-2 text-[11px] font-semibold tracking-widest uppercase text-gray-500">
+                        Situation
+                      </h2>
+                      <p className="whitespace-pre-wrap text-sm leading-relaxed text-gray-600">
+                        {scenario}
+                      </p>
+                    </div>
+                  </div>
+                )}
+              </div>
             </div>
           )}
 
@@ -1269,6 +1337,7 @@ export default function ReasoningWorkspace({
                     setFocusedAnswer={setFocusedAnswer}
                     focusedAnswer={focusedAnswer}
                     setDoneForNowIds={setDoneForNowIds}
+                    setFollowUpQuestion={setFollowUpQuestion}
                   />
                 )}