I think this has been mentioned already, but in FFXI(And maybe XIV 1.0?) you were able to break Clusters down into a random amount of Crystals(No Shards in XI though).

So for example: I go mine a single Cluster and break it down into 5 Crystals and those 5 Crystals can be broken down into a total of 25 Shards.

All the above example needs is a little randomization with the amount you would receive per break.

It's really that simple of a solution to make shard gathering less of a mind-numbing chore. We don't need a new Crafting Class for this or a new crafting recipe or new gathering abilities.

Keep it simple, as it should be!