array of control at design time

Simply dim a new button and initialize the properties and place it on the form. You could access these controls by using the Controls property but you could also put them in an array or list yourself for reference. Remember that you must add them using the Controls.Add otherwise you won't see any of the newly creates controls at all.

Private Sub CreatButton()
        Dim btnYes As System.Windows.Forms.Button
        ' Create control
        btnYes = New System.Windows.Forms.Button()
        ' Set button properties
        btnYes.Name = "ButtonYes"
        btnYes.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(70, 30)
        btnYes.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(300, 30)
        btn.TabIndex = 1
        btnYes.Text = "YES"
        ' add to the parent form's controls collection
        Me.Controls.Add(btnYes)
End Sub

Good luck!