To show the electron configuration for an atom, when would it be better to use an orbital notation than to use a written configuration with numbers, letters, and superscripts?

when the aim is to show orbital shapes in subshells
when the aim is to show electron distributions in shells

The answer is: when the aim is to show electron distributions in shells

An orbital notation is more appropriate if you want to show how the electrons of an atom are distributed in each subshell. This is because there are some atoms that have special electronic configurations that aren't obvious in just written configurations.