HDS Primary Arrow Button - Size Variants

[abbybowman]

Feature name

Primary arrow button size variants

Feature area

Component patterns (cards, search, archive layouts, etc.)

Describe the idea

The HDS Figma spec shows 6 sizes for primary arrow buttons (14px–36px). HDS Core currently implements one default size. This idea adds the remaining size variants to support different contexts (inline with body text, hero CTAs, card footers, etc.).

This overlaps with the broader icon button sizing question — Figma defines 6 icon button sizes (XS–XXL, 16–36px) and HDS Core currently has 3 (--sm, default, --lg), with --lg at 40px not matching any Figma size.

Use case / user story

As a developer building a hero section, I want a larger primary arrow button that matches the Figma spec so that the CTA is proportional to the surrounding content.

Primary audience

Front-end developers

Is this already in the HDS Figma library?

✅ Yes — fully specced in HDS Figma

Figma reference

See the Buttons element page in HDS Figma — primary arrow button shows 6 size variants.

Implementation maturity

🔍 Seen elsewhere — exists in another design system or library (not NASA)

Prior art details

Unsure if size variants for the primary arrow button are used on NASA.gov or any other live sites currently

Relationship to USWDS

Extends USWDS with something it doesn't provide

Potential breaking change?

No — purely additive

Alternatives considered

Could use CSS font-size on the parent to scale the em-based button (since the arrow circle uses em units). This works for proportional scaling but doesn't give precise control over the 6 discrete Figma sizes.

Additional context

What we may need creative director review to confirm:

• Which of the 6 Figma sizes should ship (all 6, or a subset?)
• Whether the sizes should align with the icon button size scale (XS–XXL)
• HDS Core SVGs are 24×24px (not Figma's assumed 20×20px) — the glyph-to-container ratio needs adjustment. See DESIGN.md § Icon Button Sizing for the full analysis.

Would you contribute to this?

Yes — I could submit a PR

[abbybowman]

Done in commit 3c91006